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Tesla expands robotaxi pilots to Orlando and Tampa
Tesla has added Orlando and Tampa to its Florida robotaxi tests a day before Q2 earnings, but the new service areas appear limited.
Image: TechCrunch
Tesla has deployed an unspecified number of unsupervised Model Y SUVs in Orlando and Tampa, expanding its early robotaxi testing in Florida just one day before the company’s scheduled second-quarter earnings call.
The move makes Orlando and Tampa the second and third Florida cities where Tesla is trialing the service, after a small launch in Miami a few weeks ago. According to TechCrunch, both new rollouts appear to cover fairly small operating areas, and Tesla has not shared additional details.
The expansion follows a similar pattern from earlier this year. Tesla announced autonomous fleets in Dallas and Houston ahead of its first-quarter earnings release, but those operations still have not scaled.
Tesla’s commercial robotaxi rollout remains well behind the pace the company previously promised investors. Elon Musk had repeatedly said Tesla robotaxis would serve half the U.S. population by the end of 2025. On the company’s first-quarter call this year, however, Musk used a more measured tone.
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A regulatory change could still help Tesla accelerate. Last month, the Department of Transportation proposed revising rules so brake pedals would no longer be required in cars designed to be autonomous. If that proposal is adopted, it could open the door for Tesla to deploy the dozens of two-seater Cybercabs it has been staging in cities across the country.
Tesla disbanded its press office years ago, and the company has not commented further on the Orlando and Tampa launches.
Frontier Editor
Dan is our resident futurist, covering electric mobility, space exploration, and the smart home. He's interested in atoms just as much as bits. Whether it's a new battery chemistry, a reusable rocket, or a protocol that finally makes IoT devices talk to each other, Dan breaks down the engineering that pushes humanity forward.
via TechCrunch
