Seven months after Elon Musk first announced the initiative, Tesla’s Robotaxi service in Austin appears to have finally transitioned to fully driverless operations. Data from the crowdsourced Robotaxi Tracker indicates that the service has moved away from utilizing human safety monitors onboard for its current fleet.
Tracking the Shift
Over the past two weeks, all 170 Tesla Robotaxi rides in Austin monitored by the tracker were unsupervised. These rides involved a fleet of 54 distinct vehicles. Ethan McKanna, the creator of Robotaxi Tracker and a former intern with Tesla’s Robotaxi team, also noted a surge in unsupervised activity in Dallas and Houston, where approximately 30 driverless Teslas have been operating over the last week.
This represents a substantial departure from earlier this summer, when the unsupervised fleet appeared to be stagnating. While some of the jump reflects improved data collection methods and revised sources, McKanna confirmed that the shift in Austin is tangible. Vehicles previously identified as requiring supervision have now been confirmed to be offering fully unsupervised rides.
The Road to Cybercab
This operational shift comes as Tesla prepares to launch the Cybercab in Austin, potentially as early as this month. Unlike the Model Ys currently in use, the Cybercab is purpose-built without traditional controls like steering wheels or pedals. Consequently, demonstrating the ability to operate safely without onboard monitors is a prerequisite for the Cybercab’s rollout.
Despite this momentum, Tesla still trails its primary competitor, Waymo. Waymo currently operates more than 300 driverless vehicles in Austin alone, with a total fleet of around 4,000 vehicles across 10 cities. While Musk recently stated that the program would scale "very, very rapidly," he declined to provide specific forecasts regarding vehicle counts or new market entries.
