Tesla doubles Austin Robotaxi service area to 80 square miles, reaching the suburbs
Published on Aug 07, 2025 at 7:18 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Aug 07, 2025 at 3:53 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
Tesla has expanded its Austin Robotaxi service area for the second time since it was launched in June.
The new expansion has added 40 square miles, meaning the service now covers around 80 square miles in total.
The new expansion comes just a couple of weeks after Elon Musk announced the Robotaxi service would be growing in Texas.
The increase brings Tesla’s Robotaxi closer to the 90 square miles Waymo currently services in the city.
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The Austin Robotaxi service area has been growing steadily
Following weeks of speculation and rumor, Tesla finally launched its eagerly-awaited Robotaxi service on June 22.
The Robotaxis are only permitted to operate inside a geofence: a special digital fence designed by Tesla that pens the service into certain routes and areas.
Effectively, this means the Robotaxis can’t travel very far.
However, within just a few weeks of launching, the Austin Robotaxi service area has been increased twice.
The area was first increased to 42 square miles less than a month after it was introduced and initially gave Tesla a larger geofence than Waymo.
Waymo boosted its service area a week or so later.
But Tesla increased it again on August 3, bringing its total service area to around 80 square miles, a little less than the 90-or-so square miles Waymo currently covers.
Tesla’s Austin Robotaxi service area is now stretching out from the city center and heading towards suburban zones such as Barton Creek.
It’s unclear when Tesla will push its geofence again, but its clear to see that the company isn’t resting on its laurels when it comes to rolling out its Robotaxis.
Analysts told Business Insider the rapid expansion shows that the Robotaxi testing is ‘going well’.
For those asking me, here is a comparison of the newly expanded @Tesla @robotaxi
— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) August 3, 2025
service area (as of 3 August 2025) and the newly expanded Waymo service areas in Austin, Texas.
The autonomous ride hailing service area & system capabilities scalability is certainly being tested… pic.twitter.com/uaPpEP66Cq
“I think Tesla expanded the service area and invited more people to join the testing. Both are signs of progress,” Equity Strategist at Morningstar Seth Goldstein said.
Tesla Robotaxis have hit a bit of a speed bump in California
Back in April, Musk said his company would ‘scale up Robotaxis after the launch’ and said they would be coming to ‘many other cities in the US’ by the end of this year.
Following its introduction in Austin, it seemed as though Tesla had its sights set on San Francisco, where employees had already been trialing the Robotaxi service earlier this year.
But the company hit a bit of a speed bump after officials in California said Tesla was not allowed to ‘test or transport the public’ with or without a driver in a self-driving vehicle.
Nonetheless, Tesla has launched a ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay Area, but the cars must have a human driver at the wheel.
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
