On June 22, 2025, Eastern Time, at South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, the United States, Tesla's Robotaxi service officially opened for invited users. The company provided a one-way ride service at a fixed price of $4.2 using 10 driverless Model Y vehicles, with remote safety personnel and biosensors ensuring safety. This marks Tesla's first step in pushing pure visual autonomous driving into the commercial market.
Pure Visual Technology and Shared Fleet Roadmap
Robotaxi relies solely on 8 cameras and AI neural networks to perceive the road, abandoning expensive LiDAR and millimeter-wave radar. Musk emphasized on X:
"The pure visual solution costs less than one-third of competitors. This is the result of a decade of refinement, with AI chips and software teams entirely developed in-house by Tesla."
Tesla has invested over $10 billion in developing this system, hoping to accelerate global deployment without geographical boundaries through low cost and high scalability. The company's long-term vision is to allow car owners to add their vehicles to the Robotaxi fleet when idle, creating a peer-to-peer sharing model similar to Airbnb.
According to Patent PC, the global Robotaxi market could exceed $10 trillion by 2030, with autonomous driving business accounting for over 60% of Tesla's trillion-dollar market value, indicating its critical strategic position.
This trial operation still maintains controlled conditions: the fleet is limited to a designated area in South Austin, operating from 6 AM to midnight daily; all passengers are by invitation to allow the company to collect feedback and comply with Texas regulatory requirements. Despite some legislators calling for a pause, lenient local regulations have enabled Tesla to launch unmanned services first.
Unlike competitors following the high-cost LiDAR and dedicated vehicle route, Tesla enters the market using existing car models and a visual solution, lowering hardware barriers. Analysts note that if it passes safety and regulatory tests, this model will pressure companies like Waymo.
Overall, the Austin trial is not just a technological validation but also a sandbox test of future business models. Its success will determine whether Tesla can gain a first-mover advantage in the $10 trillion autonomous ride-hailing market and potentially reshape the global transportation industry landscape.
