Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced on June 22 (local time) that Tesla would begin pilot operations of its autonomous vehicle robotaxi service starting that afternoon.
On the morning of the same day, CEO Musk stated on his social networking service X (formerly Twitter), "We are launching the robotaxi service this afternoon in Austin," adding, "Passengers will pay a flat fare of $4.20."
Previously, on June 11, in response to a user's question about the launch date of the robotaxi service, CEO Musk had replied, "Provisionally June 22," but also noted, "This date may change because we are approaching safety issues with great caution."
The robotaxi service will be operated in a limited manner, with only about 10 Model Y vehicles and offered exclusively to a small number of social media influencers. The vehicles will operate only within restricted zones, avoiding complex intersections and similar areas.
According to Reuters and other outlets, on the morning of June 22, a Tesla vehicle with no one in the driver's seat and marked as a 'robotaxi' was seen operating in downtown Austin, though it was not confirmed whether any passengers were on board.
During the first quarter earnings conference call on April 1, CEO Musk stated, "We will begin fully autonomous robotaxi operations in Austin in June as planned." He added that although the service may start on a small scale on the first day, "we will rapidly scale up." He also said, "By the end of this year, the service will expand to other cities in the United States, and by the second half of next year, there will be millions of fully autonomous Teslas in operation."
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