Tesla plans to roughly double its Robotaxi pilot fleet in Austin, Texas, next month, growing from about 30 to 60 vehicles. This expansion falls far short of the company's earlier goal of 500 robotaxis by the end of 2025. The service remains supervised, with human monitors in each vehicle, contributing to long wait times for users.
The Tesla Robotaxi pilot launched in Austin in June 2025, using modified Model Y electric vehicles equipped with Hardware 4. These vehicles operate under a supervised model, requiring a human Tesla employee in the front seat to monitor the system and intervene if needed via a killswitch.
Currently, the fleet consists of approximately 30 Model Ys, according to community trackers and reports. Elon Musk announced on X that the fleet would "roughly double" in December 2025, potentially reaching 60 vehicles. This comes after Musk's October 31, 2025, appearance on the All-In Podcast, where he promised "500 or more" robotaxis serving the greater Austin area by year's end—a target now projected to miss by nearly 90%.
Users in Austin have faced challenges, including "High Service Demand" messages and wait times exceeding 40 minutes, making the service impractical for quick trips. The supervised requirement limits scaling; doubling to 60 vehicles would need 150-200 employees for shifts, while 500 would require nearly 1,000. The pilot has reported seven crashes in its first few months.
In comparison, Waymo operates about 200 fully driverless robotaxis in Austin, part of a 2,500-vehicle U.S. fleet. Musk dismissed Waymo's scale as "Rookie numbers," despite Tesla's vehicles still needing human supervision. This expansion tests Tesla's Full Self-Driving software in urban settings but highlights ongoing hurdles in achieving unsupervised autonomy.
