Tesla launches 'Robotaxi' in Houston and Dallas with tiny geofences

Key Points:

• Tesla has expanded its "Robotaxi" service to Dallas and Houston, marking its first rollout beyond Austin and San Francisco, but the service areas are small and details about fleet size, supervision, and pricing were not disclosed.
• The Houston geofence covers about 25 square miles, while Dallas focuses on the Highland Park area; for comparison, Austin's geofence expanded to roughly 245 square miles over nearly a year.
• Tesla’s current Robotaxi fleet in Austin remains limited, with only a handful of unsupervised vehicles and most cars still requiring safety monitors, raising skepticism about the new expansions given past unmet promises and high crash rates.
• Tesla has reported 15 crash incidents since launching in Austin, with crash rates several times higher than human drivers, and the company provides minimal transparency on these incidents compared to competitors like Waymo.
• In contrast, Waymo operates fully driverless Robotaxis at scale in both Houston and Dallas, delivering 500,000 rides per week nationwide with a significantly better safety record, highlighting Tesla’s challenges in matching industry standards.