Key Points
- Tesla will launch its paid robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025 using fully autonomous vehicles.
- Tesla owners can add their cars to the fleet in 2026, similar to an Airbnb-style model.
- The company plans to roll out its unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in California and other regions by the end of 2025.
- Waymo has already begun offering fully autonomous rides in Austin and will fully launch its service in 2025.
CEO Elon Musk announced during the latest earnings call that Tesla will introduce a paid autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, starting June 2025. The service will operate using Tesla’s internal fleet, featuring vehicles without human drivers and running on the unsupervised version of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. However, Tesla has yet to release this fully autonomous FSD version officially.
According to TechCrunch, Musk revealed that after the initial rollout in Austin, the company plans to expand the service to other locations across the U.S. in the following months. By 2026, Tesla owners can add their vehicles to the ride-hailing network at any time, similar to how property owners can list and remove their homes on Airbnb. Musk emphasized that Tesla will use the first few months to fine-tune the system, ensuring fully functional features like accurate billing and precise pickup and drop-off locations.
In preparation for this expansion, Tesla aims to launch its unsupervised FSD software in California and other parts of the U.S. before the end of 2025. However, given Musk’s history of ambitious promises and delays, there is skepticism about whether the company will meet these deadlines.
Musk has long promoted the idea of a fully autonomous Tesla fleet. In 2019, he claimed there would be “over a million robotaxis on the road” within a year, a prediction that never materialized. More recently, he introduced the Tesla Cybercab, envisioning a future where individuals could own multiple autonomous Teslas and earn passive income by adding them to a ridesharing network.
Meanwhile, Tesla isn’t the only player in the self-driving ride-hailing space. Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle division, began offering select users fully driverless rides in Austin in late 2024. The company plans to expand the service citywide this year, increasing competition in the growing robotaxi market.
