A driverless Tesla robotaxi has been seen out and about in Austin, Texas, ahead of the service being rolled out later this month.
As the service gears up to be launched in the city, Tesla has recently been listed on Austin’s Department of Motor Vehicles site as an official operator of autonomous vehicles.
The highly anticipated autonomous taxi service is set to be introduced with around 10 taxis and then increase the number fairly rapidly.
Once it is up and running in Austin, the EV makers plans to bring it to more cities, including Los Angeles and San Antonio.
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The Tesla robotaxi has already been softly launched in certain cities, including Austin and San Francisco, but for now, it has only been used by Tesla employees.
However, a clip on social media shows one of its driverless robotaxis out and about on the streets of Austin, presumably in preparation for the upcoming launch.
The company has previously confirmed it was aiming for a June start date.
One insider recently told Bloomberg that is was poised to launch on June 12.
But on X, Tesla boss Elon Musk has since announced that date has been pushed, and the first public rides will begin ‘tentatively, June, 22.’
He went on to say that the date ‘could shift’.
Musk also revealed that the first Tesla to fully drive itself from the production line to a customer’s use is scheduled for June 28.
As for the robotaxi service, it seems as primed and ready, with a clip shared on X showing the driverless taxi turning off Congress Avenue and onto West James Street in Austin.
In the short clip, the autonomous vehicle can be seen stopping to allow pedestrians to cross the road before moving on.
The car has a ‘robotaxi’ decal on the door and appeared to be being closely followed by a Model Y, most likely with a Tesla employee inside to watch over the trip.
The clip has been reshared by Ashok Elluswamy, who heads up Tesla’s Autopilot team.
Slowly slowly at first, then … https://t.co/MxYCwhGJZw
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 10, 2025
“Slowly slowly at first, then …” he wrote.
Musk has said the robotaxi service will be launched using consumer models of Tesla’s EVs before eventually incorporating its purpose-built Cybercab later down the line.
The post Tesla’s first robotaxi caught driving solo in Austin before launch date appeared first on Supercar Blondie.
