Tesla said on Wednesday it is rolling out its unsupervised robotaxis in the Austin Metro area in Texas as the electric vehicle maker looks to speed up its autonomous ride-hailing operation.
Expanding the robotaxi service and wider adoption of its full self-driving software, a version of which underpins the technology, is key to Tesla’s growth strategy after CEO Elon Musk pivoted the company’s focus from EVs to AI and robotics.
“Unsupervised robotaxi now in the entire Austin Metro area,” Tesla’s official robotaxi account said in a post on X.
The service has been operating in Austin for nearly a year, where customers sometimes experience wait times of more than 30 minutes.
According to a presentation by Austin officials, Tesla has about 50 vehicles operating in the city, while Alphabet’s Waymo runs more than 250 in the same area.
Musk said last month he expects fully self-driving cars without human safety monitors to become more widespread in the US later this year after being introduced in Texas.
The EV-maker said in April it was rolling out its robotaxis in Dallas and Houston.
Reuters
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