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It must be a cash-in day, because Tesla is announcing the Robotaxi.
The company announced in a press release on X that it is launching its Robotaxi service in Orlando and Tampa, posting two maps that show each location. There is no word on the size of the fleet or whether interested customers will be able to park a car immediately.
The timing of this post is very good, considering today Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expected to provide an update on the progress of the company’s Robotaxi project during his second quarter earnings call. Adding two new cities to the docket may sound like progress for investors.
Of course, that progress is sustainable. The most important function of the Robotaxi company is very few than Elon Musk predicted. In 2024, he said the company’s autonomous vehicles will be available half of the US population by the end of 2025. A few months later, Musk said that Tesla will have “500 or more” cars in the Austin area alone by the end of 2025.
The number of cars in each city has also changed dramatically: back in May, Tesla had five unsupervised robotaxis in Dallas, six in Houston, and 29 in Austin. As of today, there are only 17 unattended vehicles in Austin, four in Dallas, and zero in Houston, according to Robotaxi Tracker. By comparison, Waymo says it has more than 3,500 self-driving cars operating in more than 10 cities.
Like Waymo, Tesla often introduces robots to a new city with a safety driver behind the wheel. Unlike Waymo, Tesla sometimes moves that person into the passenger seat so they can access the kill switch if anything goes wrong. The company has been inconsistent in how it releases its robotaxis to new markets. These numbers go up and down, with zero explanation from the company.
According to several reports, waiting times for Tesla’s robotaxis can be long due to low traffic. Cars often pick up and drop off at the wrong place. Unattended vehicles are often operated remotely. This week, Tesla said that the unsupervised robotaxi crashed in the stump of a tree while being driven from a distance. Musk predicted that the project will be profitable in 2027.
By adding new cities, Tesla is trying to sell investors on the idea that its robotaxi service is growing. But fluctuating fleet sizes, mismatches between unattended and unattended vehicles, and long wait times tell a very different story.
