Tesla's robotaxi has already started testing in Austin

Elon Musk promised and delivered. Tesla began testing its self-driving taxi service (robotaxis) in the city of Austin (Texas) this Sunday, June 22.

Around ten Model Ys were made available to paying passengers, an unprecedented moment for the American electric car brand.

According to Reuters, the self-driving Teslas were spotted in South Congress with no one sitting in the driver's seat and a safety monitor sitting in the passenger position. In other words, at this stage the cars are still not completely free of human supervision on board .

For now, the service being tested only covers a select group of influencers and a geographically limited area. The price? According to Elon Musk's statement on the social network X (formerly Twitter), it is $4.20.

A mix of Uber and Airbnb

In a video he shared on X, Elon Musk explained the monetization logic of this service: "Sometimes people ask: how do you go from this big fleet to actually monetizing the fleet in an autonomous situation? And this is actually a combination of Airbnb and Uber at some point. So there will be some cars that Tesla owns, kind of like Uber. But then for the fleet that is owned by our customers, it will be like Airbnb: they can add or remove cars from the fleet whenever they want."

On the same social network, the entrepreneur wrote: "Many congratulations to the Tesla AI chip and software design teams for the successful launch of the robotaxi. It is the culmination of a decade of hard work. The AI ​​chip and software teams were built from the ground up inside Tesla."

This is an investment seen as crucial for Tesla's future from a financial point of view. The service is based on Level 4 autonomous vehicles (i.e. driving is autonomous and does not require a driver on board).

Security

Although Tesla's robotaxi has reached the testing phase, situations such as operating in bad weather, complicated intersections and transporting minors will be avoided.

Safety is a concern . According to CNBC, a few weeks ago The Dawn Project went public with a demonstration that a self-driving Model Y recklessly overtook a school bus in a test drive — hitting a dummy in the process.

Tesla is set to launch a robotaxi service in Austin in just a few days. However, local residents are protesting the move.

News to the Minute | 11:53 - 16/06/2025

There is currently nothing prohibiting or regulating self-driving services in Austin. However, starting September 1, that will change with a legislative update passed last Friday.

In less than three months, state permission will be required to operate autonomous vehicles. If providers are deemed to pose a danger to the public, they could have their licenses revoked.

Read Also: Revolutionized mobility? Tesla wants to launch robotaxi on June 12