Musk says Tesla’s robotaxi service to ‘tentatively’ launch in Austin on June 22
By AP Staff
Still from Tesla's live stream of the 'We Robot' event showing off the Robotaxi and other future autonomous projects.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Elon Musk says Tesla is “tentatively” set to begin providing robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on June 22.
In a post on his X social media platform, Musk said the date could change because Tesla is “being super paranoid about safety.”
Investors, Wall Street analysts and Tesla enthusiasts have been anticipating the rollout of the driverless cabs since Musk said earlier this year that the service would launch in Austin sometime in June.
Last month, Musk told CNBC that the taxis will be remotely monitored at first and “geofenced” to certain areas of the city deemed the safest to navigate. He said he expected to initially run 10 or so taxis, increase that number rapidly and start offering the service in Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Francisco and other cities.
Musk has been promising fully autonomous, self-driving vehicles “next year” for a decade, but the pressure is on now as Tesla actually begins to operate a self-driving taxi service. Sales of Tesla’s electric vehicles have sagged due to increased competition, the retooling of its most popular car, the Model Y, and the fallout from Musk’s turn to politics.
The Austin rollout also comes after Musk had a public blowup with President Donald Trump over the administration’s tax bill. Some analysts have expressed concern that Trump could retaliate by encouraging federal safety regulators to to step in at any sign of trouble for the robotaxis.
Tesla reported a surprise increase in sales in the third quarter as the electric car maker likely benefited from a rush by consumers to take advantage of a $7,500 credit before it expired on Sept. 30. The company reported Thursday that sales in the three months through September rose 7% compared to the same period a year ago. The gain follows two quarters of steep declines as people turned off by CEO Elon Musk’s foray into right-wing politics avoided buying his company’s cars and even protested at some dealerships. Sales rose to 497,099 vehicles, compared with 462,890 in the same period last year.
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