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Tesla has officially entered the robotaxi race, launching its autonomous ride-hailing service on June 22 in Austin, Texas.
While the move marks a pivotal step toward Elon Musk’s long-touted vision of fully autonomous transport, the debut comes with tight restrictions, limited access, and some lingering questions.
Though Elon Musk had promised an “unsupervised” self-driving experience, the current rollout is far from that. Tesla’s robotaxi rides are strictly invite-only and feature human “safety monitors” riding in the front passenger seat, a departure from industry norms where monitors typically sit in the driver’s seat during the test phase only.
These employees are equipped with a kill switch, adding a human safety net to the supposedly autonomous system.
Tesla’s decision to use safety monitors in its commercial launch (not just testing) is a notable divergence from competitors like Waymo and Cruise.
How does the Service operate?
The service is constrained to a mapped-out zone within Austin, bordered by Zilker Park to the west, the Colorado River to the north, Highway 183 to the east, and Highways 290 and 71 to the south. The robotaxis run between 6 AM and 12 AM, steering clear of bad weather, airports, highways, and complicated intersections.
At launch, Tesla deployed 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles, all branded with “Robotaxi” decals. The highly anticipated Cybercab, which Tesla revealed last year, won’t make its debut until 2026 at the earliest.
Tesla has also reportedly used chase vehicles and remote drivers for backup, although some vehicles have operated independently.
Initial users were largely pro-Tesla influencers, raising questions about the neutrality of early feedback. Despite the hype, the launch day started slowly. By 1 PM ET, many invitees still hadn’t received app access. One well-known Tesla advocate, Sawyer Merritt, waited hours while watching 30 Waymo vehicles pass by.
Once Merritt gained access to the app, he shared a snapshot of the coverage zone, which seemed to span a compact section of Austin, flanked by the Colorado River in the north, Highway 183 on the east, Highways 290 and 71 to the south, and Zilker Park on the west.
Here’s is Tesla’s Robotaxi geofenced area. pic.twitter.com/rPReAYtpO1
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 22, 2025
At 1:12 PM, Musk tweeted that the service would begin “later that afternoon” and announced a “flat fee” of $4.20 — a not-so-subtle weed reference that Musk has frequently leaned into.
App Experience and Ride Feedback
Once activated, the Tesla robotaxi app allowed users to hail vehicles similarly to Uber. Riders had to show their apps to the safety monitor before starting. An in-car screen prompted passengers to fasten their seatbelts and press a “start ride” button. The rides, by most accounts, were uneventful.
According to testers, the app interface felt “basically Uber.” Riders noted the smoothness of the ride and said the robotaxis performed normal driving maneuvers, U-turns, construction zones, speed bumps, and pedestrian stops, without major issues.
Inside, the front display offered a visualization similar to the Full Self-Driving mode in regular Tesla cars, though missing some typical controls. A support button allowed riders to connect to a remote operator, though delays were reported. In one instance, it took two minutes for a support agent to respond, with poor signal quality compounding the wait.
Testers used words like “smooth,” “normal,” and “great” to describe the ride quality. One user claimed a minor “mess up” occurred but declined to classify it as a system disengagement.
A livestream viewer called the experience “robotaxi hunting,” comparing it to Pokémon Go — tracking down vehicles rather than mythical creatures.
Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) later shared his personal experience of riding a Tesla robotaxi at night:
“Here is my experience in one of the first public nighttime @Tesla Robotaxi rides. It was smooth, comfortable and just as good as it is during the daytime.”
Here is my experience in one of the first public nighttime @Tesla Robotaxi rides. It was smooth, comfortable and just as good as it is during the daytime. pic.twitter.com/7bDvVaWf3A
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 23, 2025
Tesla’s Monitoring Hub and Future Plans
Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of the self-driving division, shared a photo of Tesla’s operations room, showing dozens of team members monitoring live feeds from multiple robotaxis under a banner he labeled “Robotaxi launch party.”
Robotaxi Launch party 🎉 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/AftkAuneQ6
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2025
Looking ahead, Musk aims to bring robotaxi service to California, despite the state’s stricter regulatory landscape. He has expressed intentions to scale the service up quickly, claiming that “a thousand robotaxis” could be operational in a matter of “a few months.”
However, Tesla’s path forward won’t be easy. Waymo, a major competitor owned by Alphabet, already operates over 1,500 autonomous vehicles across several major U.S. cities and plans to expand to Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C., with a target of 2,000 vehicles set for next year.
