Tesla has begun trial operations of its autonomous ride-hailing service with select employees in Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area, in anticipation of launching its robotaxi service to the public this summer.
On Wednesday, Tesla announced on social media that a limited group of its employees in the two regions are now participating in what the company calls “FSD Supervised” ride-hail tests. “FSD,” which stands for Full Self-Driving, is Tesla’s advanced driver assistance technology, currently available to Tesla vehicle owners through subscription. The system facilitates certain automated driving functions but requires human supervision, meaning drivers must keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times.
According to the company’s social media post, the pilot program has already logged over 1,500 individual trips totaling 15,000 miles. These test rides are being conducted via a newly developed mobile app named “Robotaxi,” which Tesla expects to offer to non-Tesla owners to facilitate ride bookings once the service launches commercially.
Gathering data from employee-driven rides has been common practice among autonomous ride-hailing companies looking to refine software, operational protocols, and safety measures. Competitor Waymo, for instance, typically follows a similar development path by first offering rides to its own employees before gradually incorporating members of the general public in new markets.
Tesla confirmed this week during its quarterly investor call that the company is aiming to roll out public robotaxi services in Austin starting this June. CEO Elon Musk indicated Tesla would initially deploy between 10 and 20 vehicles on day one of service but did not specify when paid rides would begin.
Although Tesla gained considerable attention last year with its futuristic “Cybercab” concept—a driverless taxi design featuring no steering wheel or pedals—the company has opted, at least initially, to operate its upcoming robotaxi fleet using standard Tesla vehicles. A video released by the company showed a Model 3 sedan professionally outfitted with a screen for back-seat passengers, providing an estimated arrival time, climate and audio controls, and an emergency stop button. Tesla appears set to launch the operation with safety drivers in place, tasked to monitor vehicle performance and intervene if necessary.
This cautious approach contrasts earlier statements by Musk, who mentioned in January that Tesla intended to launch fully driverless rides without human supervisors by mid-2025. Musk had previously announced plans to release an “unsupervised” version of the FSD software to customers in California and other areas later this year.
California, which imposes rigorous safety and regulatory requirements on autonomous vehicle entities, has so far granted Tesla only a permit for supervised autonomous testing on public roads. It remains uncertain whether Tesla will pursue obtaining further permits necessary for fully driverless operations in the state this year.
