During a company earnings call on Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that the company aims to offer its Robotaxi service to “half the population of the U.S. by the end of the year,” noting that this goal is subject to regulatory approvals.
Musk specified that Tesla is currently in the process of seeking regulatory permission to launch the service in the Bay Area, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and other locations. This expansion plan follows the service’s current limited operation in Austin, Texas, where a small fleet of reported 10-20 Model Y vehicles serves a select group of participants. Musk said that while the company is being “very cautious” with the expansion, he expects the service areas and vehicle count to grow at a “hyper-exponential rate.”
Tesla’s Robotaxi service utilizes stock Model Y vehicles without the extensive hardware modifications, such as lidar, used by competitors like Waymo and Zoox. This strategy could allow Tesla to scale its fleet more rapidly once regulatory clearances are obtained.
For comparison, Alphabet’s Waymo currently operates its autonomous ride-hailing service in several U.S. cities, including Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Atlanta, with plans to launch in Miami and Washington D.C. in 2026.
