Tesla has begun operating its Robotaxi service on an Austin freeway, as the company continues expanding the geofenced area.
However, and according to a video shared on X earlier this Tuesday, the safety operator is now in the driver’s seat — as seen in the Bay Area launch.
The video showing a robotaxi vehicle on the freeway was shared on X by Tesla enthusiast ‘gailalfaratx,’ who used the company’s robotaxi service and noted it went — for the first time — onto the freeway.
“Sept 1 in Austin and our Robotaxi arrived with Tesla safety driver in the driver seat, similar to the Bay area (no logo on the car),” she wrote.
“Here’s that first moment when I realized, our autonomous car was heading onto the freeway,” Gail added in the video caption.
Last week, Tesla announced that it had increased the service area in Austin.
“Increased service area from 91 to 173 sq miles,” the company’s Robotaxi-dedicated X account said last week, “Also increased # of cars available by 50%.”
Tesla had previously expanded the geofenced area of its robotaxi service in Austin in mid-July for the first time, doubling the original service zone.
The ride-hailing service launched in Austin in late June and is currently operated through a fleet of altered Model Ys, which feature a new, fully autonomous-grade version of full-self driving (FSD).
It was then expanded to the Bay Area, where the service includes a safety operator in the driver seat.
This differs from Austin, where the operator rides in the passenger seat. Consequently, the service more closely resembles a conventional ride-hailing experience in which the driver utilizes Tesla’s FSD.
Last month, Tesla‘s CEO Elon Musk said the robotaxi service will open to the general public in Austin later this month, as the company awaits regulatory approval to operate the system in additional states.
Tesla has reportedly secured approval to operate its driverless taxi service across Texas, becoming one of the first companies to obtain formal authorisation under the state’s new autonomous vehicle regime.
Last month, Tesla was spotted testing its Robotaxi in Miami, Florida, weeks after Elon Musk confirmed that the city is on the company’s expansion plans.
In late July, the company had listed several jobs for vehicle operators in both Arizona and California, signaling it could be expanding its robotaxi service to both states.
By then, Musk said it expects the service to be expanded to “probably half of the population of the US by the end of the year.”
The EV maker is also preparing to unveil a new version of the FSD by the end of September.
Musk said last month that the upcoming version of the Full-Self Driving (FSD) software, set to be launched in about five weeks, will be the “second biggest update” to the system since late 2023.
The model will have “~10X params and a big improvement to video compression loss,” according to a post by the CEO on X.
