Self-driving
Tesla began Robotaxi rides in Austin for a limited group of Tesla fans, at a flat $4.20 a ride, with a Tesla safety monitor in the front passenger seat.
A dated step forward on the record · Sets Tesla Robotaxi's stage
What the source says
“Many livestreams show the safety monitor gripping a handle on the right side of the passenger seat, possibly with emergency controls.”
What it means
Tesla Robotaxi, from Tesla, is at stage 4 of 5 on our ladder: paying customers. This event is one of the milestones that placed it there.
Human help: A staff member rides along, ready to stop it.
More on Tesla Robotaxi
- NHTSA, the US road-safety agency, was weighing an investigation into claims that Tesla Robotaxis speed through active school zones, covering about 1,000 Model Y and Cybercab vehicles.
- Tesla said its Robotaxi service had driven nearly 2 million miles in total with no one supervising by the end of the third quarter of 2026.
- Nevada's Transportation Authority approved Tesla to run up to 5,000 fully driverless cars for paid rides in Clark County, home to Las Vegas. Service had not started as of October 2026.
- Electrek counted the unsupervised Austin fleet at about 17 active cars when Tampa and Orlando opened. Tesla did not say how many cars it put in Florida.
- Tesla said it launched rides with no monitor aboard in Miami, Orlando and Tampa in July 2026, and widened the unsupervised area in Austin.
- Tesla had reported 14 Robotaxi crashes in Austin to NHTSA, the US road-safety agency, since the June 2025 launch. Tesla blacked out the descriptions of the five newest as confidential.