Tesla starts San Antonio robotaxi service at 5 a.m. Monday

Grace Kim

Tesla will begin robotaxi service in San Antonio at 5 a.m. local time Monday, without disclosing fleet size, vehicle mix or safety-monitor policy. Tesla said in an X post that it “will make its robotaxis available in San Antonio starting at 5 a.m. local time on Monday.”

The launch extends Tesla’s footprint in a market where Waymo already operates, while supporting Elon Musk’s effort to build a business beyond vehicle manufacturing. It also deepens Tesla’s competition with Alphabet’s robotaxi subsidiary in a second major Texas market.

Tesla did not specify service hours. It also did not say whether the offering includes the gold, two-seat Cybercab, modified Model Y vehicles, or human safety monitors aboard.

If Tesla follows its previous launch pattern, the service should open with a limited fleet and confined area before expanding gradually. That expectation draws from earlier rollouts; it is not a confirmed San Antonio deployment plan.

What did the Austin launch establish?

Elon Musk spent a decade promising autonomous vehicles before Tesla launched robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025. The initial program was limited and used human safety operators aboard the vehicles. It marked a company milestone and tested whether self-driving cars could operate safely using only cameras and end-to-end AI.

In January, Tesla removed safety monitors from its Austin robotaxis, officially starting a true driverless service. Over the following 11 months, Tesla expanded within Austin and entered new Florida and Texas markets.

Tesla’s current footprint now includes:

• Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston in Texas.
• Miami and Orlando in Florida.

Service remains confined to limited areas in the newer markets.

How does Waymo’s return affect competition?

Waymo also operates robotaxis in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, giving Tesla a local competitor from the first day of its San Antonio launch. The Alphabet subsidiary uses a mix of driverless Jaguar I-Pace and Zeekr RT vehicles under the Ojai brand.

Waymo recently restarted San Antonio operations after a five-month pause caused by incidents in which its vehicles became stuck after entering flooded roadways. The restart returns Waymo to a city where Tesla has now announced its own service, sharpening the local competitive test after Austin.

How large are Tesla’s deployed fleets?

Texas registration data and the Robotaxi Tracker show more than 400 autonomous vehicles registered in Tesla’s Austin fleet, while fleets in other cities range from a handful to a few dozen. Tracker counts include 24 vehicles in Fort Worth and five in Miami.

These are registration and third-party tracker figures, not company-disclosed daily operating capacity. The San Antonio vehicle count remains undisclosed.

Why is California different?

Tesla also operates ride-hailing in the San Francisco Bay Area under a transportation charter permit, with a human driver behind the wheel. Those vehicles are often described as robotaxis, but Tesla does not hold the permits California requires for driverless ride-hailing.

That restriction keeps its California operation distinct from the Austin service, where Tesla removed safety monitors in January.

What does the mileage data show?

Tesla’s wider footprint has not yet produced a clear gain in paid activity. Data released this summer showed that the robotaxi network drove fewer miles with paying customers in the second quarter than in the first, TechCrunch reported in July. No pricing or revenue conclusion follows from that mileage comparison alone.

Fleet size and paid mileage remain the next commercial measures as San Antonio opens. Tesla enters the market with a confirmed start time but no disclosed fleet size, vehicle lineup or onboard-monitor policy. The next test is whether a staged rollout can convert broader coverage into more paying miles while competing with a restarted Waymo service.