Tesla has received regulatory approval from the Texas Department of Transportation to expand its fully driverless ride-hailing service in Austin, the company confirmed on Tuesday. The approval allows Tesla to add new service zones covering a significantly larger portion of the city and to increase its active robotaxi fleet to several hundred vehicles.
The expansion marks a major milestone for Tesla autonomous driving programme, which has been under intense scrutiny since launching its initial Austin pilot in June. Until now, the service was limited to a relatively small geographic area in central Austin. The new zones extend coverage to the airport corridor, the Domain commercial district, and several residential neighbourhoods in South Austin.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on an earnings call that the company plans to expand to multiple additional US cities by the end of 2026, contingent on regulatory approvals. He also disclosed that the Austin fleet has now completed more than 500,000 paid rides with a safety record that Tesla says compares favourably with human drivers.
The expansion intensifies the competition in the autonomous vehicle space, where Waymo currently leads with commercial operations in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin. Cruise, which restarted operations earlier this year after a prolonged safety review, is also expanding in Texas.
