Tesla revealed plans to expand its Robotaxi service to Orlando and Tampa, Florida, posting service area maps for each city on social media. The announcement came on a day when CEO Elon Musk was scheduled to discuss the company’s autonomous vehicle progress during its second quarter earnings call. The company did not provide details about the initial fleet size or immediate availability for customers seeking rides.
The expansion announcement arrives amid significant discrepancies between Musk’s previous forecasts and actual Robotaxi deployment. In 2024, Musk stated that Tesla’s autonomous vehicles would be available to roughly half the U.S. population by the end of 2025. Additionally, he projected that Austin alone would have 500 or more vehicles by year-end 2025. Current fleet numbers tell a different story: as of this week, Austin had 17 unsupervised vehicles, Dallas had four, and Houston had zero, according to tracking data. In May, the figures were considerably higher at 29, six, and five respectively across the three cities.
Tesla’s approach to introducing robotaxis differs from competitors. While the company typically deploys vehicles with safety drivers initially, it sometimes moves operators to the passenger seat with emergency control capabilities. This methodology has proven inconsistent across different markets, with fleet sizes fluctuating without public explanation. Waymo, by contrast, operates an estimated 3,500 fully autonomous vehicles across more than 10 cities.
Operational challenges continue to affect the service. Users have reported extended wait times due to limited vehicle availability, with vehicles sometimes dropping off passengers at incorrect locations. Unsupervised vehicles frequently require remote operation, and this week an unsupervised robotaxi collided with a tree stump while being remotely operated. Musk has projected that the robotaxi service will become profitable in 2027.