Tesla announced the launch in a post on X but gave no details about operating hours, the service area or which vehicles customers may use. It is unclear whether the fleet will include the gold, two-seat Cybercab alongside modified Model Y vehicles. Previous launches have started with a small fleet in a restricted area before expanding gradually.
The San Antonio rollout follows Tesla’s June 2025 launch in Austin, after CEO Elon Musk spent a decade promising autonomous vehicles. That service began with human safety operators aboard. In January, Tesla removed monitors from its Austin robotaxis, starting driverless operations there. The company has since expanded within Austin and into Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston.
Waymo, Tesla’s rival and an Alphabet subsidiary, also operates in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston with driverless Jaguar I-Pace and Zeekr RT vehicles branded Ojai. Waymo recently restarted service in San Antonio after a five-month pause prompted by incidents in which its vehicles became stuck on flooded roads.
Tesla’s fleet sizes vary sharply by city. Texas registration data and Robotaxi Tracker show more than 400 autonomous vehicles registered in Austin, compared with 24 in Fort Worth and five in Miami. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Tesla also offers ride-hailing under a transportation charter permit, but a human drives; the company lacks the permits required for driverless ride-hailing in California. Data released this summer showed its robotaxis drove fewer paid miles in the second quarter than in the first, TechCrunch reported in July.
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