Tesla is expanding the service area for unsupervised robotaxis in Austin as it continues to play catch-up with competitors.
The company said in an X post on Wednesday that robotaxi rides without a human operator inside the vehicle are now available in the “entire Austin Metro area.”
The move comes about six months after Tesla began removing human monitors who watch for safety incidents in several vehicles.
Removing the monitor marked an important milestone as it showed Tesla has become more confident in its self-driving technology.
Tesla did not say whether the new coverage area will also come with more unsupervised cars.
As with any ride-hailing company, growing the fleet size would be critical to reducing wait times and making the service more reliable.
Tesla Robotaxi users have previously reported how the app can experience volatile ETAs. On a Wednesday afternoon, the Tesla Robotaxi app told San Francisco-based users that it was experiencing “high service demand.”
Tesla also hasn’t significantly expanded its robotaxi fleet in Austin since it was first rolled out last June to much fanfare, with Tesla devotees flying out to Texas to experience the new service. The company initially launched Robotaxi with a human monitor in the front passenger seat.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last year that Robotaxi would launch in Austin with 10 to 20 vehicles. The company aimed for 500 robotaxis in Austin by the end of 2025, he said.
Records from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles showed the company has 42 registered cars in the state as of Wednesday. A third-party robotaxi tracking website indicated that about 21 unsupervised cars were active.
Waymo, which launched its Austin service with Uber last March, has 619 registered AVs, state records showed.
Expanding a fleet and coverage zones for autonomous cars comes with its own challenges.
While Waymo expanded its service to six new cities this year, the company recently experienced service interruptions across the country due to weather and construction challenges.
A Tesla spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read the full article here
