Tesla adds four robotaxi cities around two earnings calls. Trackers show few cars.

Previously

Tesla launched supervised robotaxi rides in Austin in June 2025 (Part 1) and a driver-operated Bay Area service in July 2025 (Part 2). In January 2026, it began some Austin rides with no safety monitor inside, though videos showed a chase car following (Part 3).

July 2026 — Tesla now lists robotaxi service in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. That count leaves out its Bay Area service, which uses safety drivers. Here's what changed since Part 3 (January 2026), what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of July 2026)

Unsupervised cars, July: 17 in Austin, four in Dallas and zero in Houston, per Robotaxi Tracker as cited by The Verge. (The Verge)
Unsupervised cars, May: 29 in Austin, five in Dallas and six in Houston, per the same tracker. (The Verge)
Service areas at launch: 31 sq mi in Dallas and 25 sq mi in Houston; Austin about 245 sq mi, up from 20. (The Verge, Electrek)
Florida fleet size: "unspecified," per TechCrunch. (TechCrunch)
Fares, total fleet and miles: not disclosed by Tesla.

Dallas and Houston

On Saturday, Apr. 18, Tesla's @robotaxi account posted: "Robotaxi now rolling out in Dallas & Houston." Musk reposted it: "Try Tesla Robotaxi in Dallas & Houston!" Tesla gave no fleet size, pricing or supervision details, Electrek reported.

By Monday morning, Robotaxi Tracker listed service in both cities as "unavailable," The Verge reported, while Austin showed 46 vehicles available. The launch came a few days before Tesla's first-quarter earnings. The Verge noted that Tesla had also announced unsupervised Austin rides days before its fourth-quarter report, and that those rides "quickly evaporated after the earnings report."

A video posted over the weekend appeared to show an unsupervised Dallas robotaxi ending up on a freeway by mistake before a remote operator took over, The Verge reported.

Waymo has operated fully driverless service in both cities since February 2026, Electrek reported.

Orlando and Tampa

On July 21, around Tesla's second-quarter call, Tesla brought "an unspecified number of its unsupervised Model Y SUVs" to Orlando and Tampa, TechCrunch reported. It was the third Florida city after a small Miami launch "a few weeks ago." TechCrunch noted that Tesla announced Dallas and Houston before its first-quarter results "but has yet to scale those operations."

The Verge said Tesla gave no word on fleet size or whether customers could hail a car right away. It recalled that in 2024 Musk said Tesla's robotaxis would be available to half the U.S. population by the end of 2025, and later said Tesla would have "500 or more" vehicles in the Austin area alone by then. Waymo is estimated to have over 3,500 fully driverless vehicles across more than 10 cities, The Verge reported.

Tesla's rollouts have been inconsistent, The Verge said: "The numbers go up and down, with zero explanation from the company as to why." Wait times can be long because of limited supply, and cars often pick up and drop off in the wrong place, according to reports The Verge cited. Musk has predicted the service will be profitable in 2027.

The safety record

The Verge reported that Tesla said in February its robotaxis had been in 14 crashes since launch; Electrek counted 15 reported to NHTSA by April. Tesla redacts key details from those filings. The Verge reported on July 21 that Tesla had disclosed, that week, an unsupervised robotaxi had crashed into a tree stump while being remotely operated.

What's changed

Not counting the Bay Area service, which uses drivers, Tesla has gone from one robotaxi city to six, but the counts don't show a growing unsupervised fleet: Austin fell from 29 unsupervised cars in May to 17 in July, by the tracker's estimates. The Department of Transportation has proposed no longer requiring brake pedals in cars designed to be autonomous, TechCrunch reported, which could help Tesla's two-seat Cybercab.

What went wrong

Launches without cars. New cities showed little or no availability after the announcements.
Timing invites doubt. Both expansions came days before earnings calls.
Remote operation is common. The Verge reported that unsupervised vehicles are often remotely operated.
What we don't know yet: Tesla's real fleet size, how often remote operators take over, and how many paid rides each city provides.

Our follow-up question for Tesla

How many unsupervised robotaxis does Tesla operate in each city, and how often do remote operators take control?

Sources

Fred Lambert, Electrek, “Tesla launches 'Robotaxi' in Houston and Dallas with tiny geofences,” Apr. 18, 2026. electrek.co
Electrek, “Tesla's 'Robotaxi' expansion looks like another stock pump before earnings,” Apr. 19, 2026. electrek.co
Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, “Tesla launches robotaxis in Dallas and Houston, and oops, it's already unavailable,” Apr. 20, 2026. theverge.com
Sean O'Kane, TechCrunch, “Tesla spins up robotaxi pilots in Orlando and Tampa ahead of Q2 earnings,” July 21, 2026. techcrunch.com
Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, “Tesla Robotaxis go to Florida,” July 21, 2026. theverge.com
Earlier in this series: Part 1. /case/tesla-robotaxi-austin
Earlier in this series: Part 2. /case/tesla-robotaxi-bay-area
Earlier in this series: Part 3. /case/tesla-robotaxi-no-monitor

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder