Tesla announced that it has expanded the uncontrolled robotaxi service it offers in the Austin metropolitan area in the US state of Texas to the entire region. This move stands out as an important part of the company’s strategy to accelerate driverless passenger transportation activities.

Tesla’s robotaxi initiative is at the center of CEO Elon Musk’s change in company strategy in recent years. In addition to electric vehicle production, Musk began to focus more on artificial intelligence and robotic technologies.

Robotaxis has critical value for Tesla

The company’s FSD (Full Self-Driving) software forms the basis of Tesla’s robotaxi infrastructure. The growth of the robotaxi network and wider adoption of FSD technology is of great importance for the company’s future revenue and growth targets.

Tesla positions driverless transportation as a new business model beyond electric vehicle sales in the long term. Tesla’s robotaxi service has been operating in Austin for about a year.

It is stated that customers using the service occasionally encounter waiting times exceeding 30 minutes. According to a presentation prepared by Austin officials, Tesla has approximately 50 robotaxi vehicles throughout the city.

Competition and future plans

It is stated that Waymo, within Alphabet, provides service with more than 250 vehicles in the same region. This data reveals that Waymo is ahead of Tesla in terms of vehicle fleet in the Austin market.

In his statement last month, Elon Musk said that he expected fully autonomous vehicles, which operate without human security guards or driver supervision, to become more common across the USA in 2026. Tesla announced in April that it had launched its robotaxis in Dallas and Houston.

What do you think about Tesla’s expansion into driverless transportation?