Tesla’s $TSLA ( ▲ 8.23% ) robotaxi era has kicked off. On Sunday, the company debuted a small-scale version of its long-awaited, self-driving rideshare service in Austin after what CEO Elon Musk calls a “decade of hard work.”
Why it matters: Tesla needs a new growth engine. With EV demand softening and competition ramping up, autonomy gives the company a fresh story to tell investors and a massive new market to chase.
Wedbush Securities inventor analyst Dan Ives says the opportunity is big enough to double Tesla’s market cap by the end of 2026 to $2 trillion.
And the broader market supports that bet: the U.S. pulled in $376 billion in autonomous driving revenue last year, and the global market is projected to reach nearly $4 trillion by 2034.
Driving the news: Elon Musk confirmed to CNBC in May that the service would debut in June with 10–20 Model Y robotaxis. That part checks out. But instead of a public launch, Tesla opted for an invite-only rollout, giving early access to friendly influencers and investors who paid a symbolic $4.20 per ride.
Between the lines: The service is limited and only runs from 6 a.m. to midnight, avoids rain, and stays inside a tight geofence in Austin.
Each ride also still includes a Tesla employee in the front passenger seat, there to silently monitor and intervene if something goes wrong. So while these rides are technically “driverless,” they aren’t fully unsupervised.
Still, the restrained rollout may be the point. Musk has stressed a “super paranoid” approach to safety in recent weeks (a shift from his earlier, more aggressive claims at the “We, Robot” event last year).
Meanwhile, competitors like Waymo have more than 1,500 robotaxis across four major cities and just landed on Uber’s platform. Zoox is ramping up production with plans to hit Las Vegas later this year. And Lyft is eyeing Dallas by 2026.
Bottom line: Tesla’s robotaxi service isn't the first, and right now, it isn’t the most advanced. But this early version gives it something the several other services don't yet have—real-world reps.
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