Tesla Robotaxi is a ride-hailing service operated by Tesla, Inc. that uses vehicles running the company's Full Self-Driving software. Limited service began in Austin, Texas, on June 22, 2025. As of September 2026 it operates without an in-vehicle safety supervisor in Texas (Austin, Dallas, Houston) and Florida (Miami, Orlando and Tampa), and with a safety supervisor in the San Francisco Bay Area. The fleet is primarily Tesla Model Y vehicles; purpose-built Tesla Cybercab vehicles were added in Austin on September 3, 2026. As of September2026[update], over 1 million unsupervised miles (1,600,000 km) have been driven in Tesla Robotaxis.
The service represents a key part of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's long-term strategy for the company, which envisions a future where Tesla owners can add their personal vehicles to a shared autonomous ride-hailing network. The launch in Austin attracted significant media attention and scrutiny, with early riders documenting incidents such as the vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road, phantom braking, dropping passengers off in intersections and committing traffic violations that led to an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Tesla plans to have the Robotaxi network work with all current Tesla vehicles, starting with its Model Y and Cybercab vehicles. During Tesla's October 2024 We, Robot event it also demonstrated the Robovan which it plans to build and add to the network, but no timelines were given.
History and concept
Elon Musk first mentioned a future car sharing service for Tesla cars with autonomous control capability in 2016. He stated that the car could generate income for the owner while the owner pursued other activities, and said that all new Tesla cars were being built with the necessary hardware for "full self-driving capability." In 2018, Musk indicated that the service would compete directly with companies like Uber and Lyft, but the Robotaxi network would be composed exclusively of autonomous electric vehicles.
In April 2019, at Tesla's "Autonomy Day," Musk predicted that Tesla would have one million robotaxis on the road by 2020. He said the vehicles would be "feature-complete on full self-driving" by the end of 2019 and would not require driver oversight by the second quarter of 2020. He also said that costs for car owners who allow their vehicles to be part of the network would be under US$.20 per mile ($0.12/km), versus $2 to $3/mi ($1.2 to $1.9/km) of traditional driver-operated ridesharing services.
In October 2020, Tesla released its "Full Self-Driving (Beta)" software, as a beta feature to a small set of users. As of July 2026, the software is now "Full Self-Driving (supervised)", and is available in the United States and some other countries.
In August 2024, Tesla unveiled a design for a purpose-built robotaxi, later dubbed the "Cybercab," a two-seater vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals. Musk stated it would be cheaper to ride in a Cybercab than to take the bus. Tesla said on October 23, 2024, during its investor call, that a Tesla ridehailing app has been in internal testing since early 2024, exclusively with Tesla employees in California, using driver-supervised Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
In June 2025, the service is launched with human safety monitors using modified Tesla Model Y vehicles.
In January 2026, the service began to integrate unsupervised vehicles into its fleet in a limited manner, and stated it planned to expand to seven additional cities in the first half of 2026. In February 2026, Tesla said it planned to begin volume production of its purpose-built Cybercab in April 2026. In April 2026, the service expanded to Dallas and Houston in Texas with unsupervised vehicles. In July 2026, the service expanded to Miami, Orlando, and Tampa with unsupervised vehicles outside of Texas for the first time.
In September 2026, the service began to rollout their purpose built vehicle, the Tesla Cybercab. This vehicle features no manual controls and only two seats with the goal of optimizing production and operational costs. Cybercab rollout initially began in Austin with plans to expand to additional cities within their network in the near future.
Services
As of early September 2026, Tesla's paying Robotaxi fleet remained primarily Tesla Model Y vehicles. Texas motor-vehicle records listed about 45 Tesla Cybercabs registered to Tesla's robotaxi operation, and reporting put the company's Texas robotaxi fleet at roughly 420 vehicles after those registrations, most of them Model Ys. The New York Times reported that Tesla was authorized to operate 314 driverless vehicles in Texas, of which 45 were Cybercabs; it was not clear how many of the Cybercabs were in passenger service rather than testing. Cybercab rides were offered only in Austin at launch.
The launch of the robotaxi service was met with a polarized reaction. Early riders posted numerous videos to social media praising the experience as "smooth" and "the future."
However, mainstream media coverage and industry analysts were more critical. The focus was often on the numerous documented driving errors, the long-delayed launch, and the gap between Musk's promises of full autonomy and the reality of a service requiring human oversight. Many outlets discussed concerns surrounding public deployment of the technology.
Regulatory response
Videos of the robotaxis' performance issues that circulated online caught the attention of U.S. federal regulators. On June 23, 2025, one day after the service launched, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said, "NHTSA is aware of the referenced incidents and is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information."
On September 3, 2026, NHTSA opened Audit Query AQ26002 into Tesla's self-certification that the Cybercab complies with applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards after the vehicle entered paid service in Austin.
In October 2026 it was reported that the NHTSA was investigating allegations that the Tesla Robotaxis fail to follow school zone speed restrictions.
Competitive landscape
The robotaxi service competes in its market with the older competitor Waymo, and it uses different vision systems on its cabs. While Waymo and other competitors utilize lidar, Tesla robotaxi services use eight cameras paired with artificial intelligence to navigate. Being newer to the robotaxi market, the Tesla service only offers rides in few areas. Waymo, in contrast, gives a much larger amount of rides per day, in less limited operational zones.
↑Lambert, Fred (October 12, 2026). "NHTSA weighs probe into claims Tesla Robotaxis speed in school zones". Electrek. Retrieved October 23, 2026. The Office of Defects Investigation opened the file, DP26010, on Friday, October 9, according to the agency's opening resume. The request itself reached NHTSA on September 23 and targets model year 2026 Robotaxis running with Tesla's Automated Driving System (ADS) engaged. The evidence file is small: three social media videos, linked in the petition, and four incidents in NHTSA's own tally. No crashes, injuries, or deaths.(...)Waymo isn't clean here either. Late last year, Austin ISD reported Waymo vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses about 20 times, and Waymo answered with a voluntary software recall in December 2025. We covered the fallout when Waymo's founder went after Tesla's safety record in the middle of it.
↑Burnett, Stewart (October 13, 2026). "School zone petition adds to Tesla's robotaxi probe pile". Automotive World. Retrieved October 23, 2026. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation opened the file on 9 October after first receiving the petition on 23 September. The investigation covers 2026 model year robotaxis operating with Tesla's Automated Driving System engaged, and therefore presumably also includes robotaxis manufactured but still awaiting deployment.The evidence underpinning the probe is, relatively speaking, quite limited: it comprises just three social media videos and four incidents in NHTSA's tally, none of them involving a crash or injury.(...)Waymo's experiences do offer some precedent for Musk's concerns. Indeed, it is no stranger to friction with school districts: after an Austin district reported Waymo vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses around 20 times, the company issued a voluntary software recall covering more than 3,000 vehicles in December 2025. NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board kept their investigations open after reports of further violations.
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