Over the weekend, Tesla launched its Robotaxi service in Dallas and Houston in every way except for the one that matters. Despite posting a promotional video on X touting the availability of the hailable autonomous ride, and getting a boost from CEO Elon Musk, who encouraged riders to try out the service, it seems the robotaxis are more available as promotional materials than actual rides.
According to RobotaxiTracker, a website dedicated to monitoring the activity of self-driving ride services, there is only one Robotaxi vehicle online in Dallas and two in Houston. Both cities are currently classified as “service unavailable” according to the site at the time of publication. To the extent that any rides have been available, they have been within extremely limited windows.
To be clear, it does appear that some rides have happened. A handful of Tesla influencers and diehards have posted videos hailing a ride, but it’d seem like those rides are few and far between. One person posted a screenshot that showed they hailed a Robotaxi in Dallas on Monday morning, but it also showed that they would have to wait 25 minutes for pickup. The content posted online would also appear to confirm RobotaxiTracker’s data, as most screenshots and videos show the same license plate in use for most rides, meaning there may be only one or two cars active and completing rides.
The average person is probably unaware that the service is available and unwilling to wait nearly half an hour for a lift. But at the moment, Tesla seems like it’s less interested in actually offering rides at scale in these cities and more focused on being able to point to its expansion ahead of its quarterly earnings, which are set to be released on Wednesday. The company used a similar strategy earlier this year, with Musk announcing plans to remove safety monitors for rides in Austin just days before the company reported its Q4 2025 earnings. It worked, as the company’s stock got a slight bump despite recording a drop in annual revenue for the first time.
It seems like it might work again. An analyst at Morgan Stanley wrote that the expansion in Houston and Dallas “represents tangible progress” for the company’s operations. Frankly, slow-rolling the rollout is probably best for everyone. When Tesla launched its Robotaxi service in Austin last year, it was plagued with evidence of unsafe driving. Given that history, one Robotaxi on the road seems like plenty.
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