Tesla to Double Robotaxi Fleet in Austin Next Month – Elon Musk Confirms Major Expansion

AUSTIN, Texas – Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced late Wednesday that the company’s robotaxi service in Austin will double its fleet size in December 2025, marking the most aggressive scaling yet of the long-awaited autonomous ride-hailing program.

In a Post On X, Musk Wrote:

“Austin robotaxi fleet doubling next month 🚀”

The brief but high-impact statement sent Tesla shares up nearly 2% in after-hours and pre-market trading Thursday, pushing the stock closer to recent all-time highs and adding roughly $25 billion to the company’s market cap in a single session.

The expansion builds directly on the limited June 2025 launch, when Tesla first deployed a small initial fleet of unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) vehicles to select Tesla owners and employees in the Austin metro area. That initial rollout was widely seen as a proof-of-concept after years of delays and regulatory hurdles.

Key Details of the Upcoming Expansion

• Current fleet size: Estimated at 40–60 vehicles (exact number still undisclosed by Tesla).
• Target after December doubling: 100–120+ robotaxis operating in Austin.
• Service area: Expected to expand beyond current South/Central Austin zones toward North Austin, Round Rock, and potentially ABIA airport corridors.
• Eligibility: Still limited to invited Tesla owners with FSD Supervised or Unsupervised subscriptions (no public sign-ups yet).
• Pricing: Remains at ~$0.60–$0.80 per mile, roughly 30–40% below Uber/Lyft rates in the region.

Why Austin Matters

Austin has quietly become Tesla’s de facto autonomy capital:

• Giga Texas houses the entire Cortex AI training cluster.
• Texas has the most permissive Level 4 autonomous vehicle laws in the U.S.
• City officials have been openly supportive, with Mayor Kirk Watson calling Tesla’s robotaxi program “the future of urban mobility”.

The December surge is seen by analysts as a critical stepping-stone before broader rollouts planned for California (pending DMV/CPUC approval) and potentially Arizona and Florida in 2026.

Investor and Analyst Reaction

Wedbush’s Dan Ives called the announcement “the clearest signal yet that unsupervised FSD is scaling faster than even the bull case expected.” Ives maintained his $550 price target on TSLA, implying over 40% upside from current levels.

Cathie Wood of ARK Invest went further on X:

“Robotaxi gross margins could exceed 70%. Doubling the Austin fleet is the first domino. 2026 nationwide rollout now looks almost certain.”

Safety and Regulatory Context

As of November 28, 2025, Tesla reports zero at-fault critical incidents in over 1.2 million unsupervised miles in Austin. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) continues to monitor the program but has not issued any new probes in the past 90 days, a notable departure from earlier scrutiny.

What’s Next?

The company is already preparing a similar fleet-doubling announcement for the San Francisco Bay Area “as soon as regulatory green lights are secured,” potentially as early as Q1 2026.

For now, all eyes remain on Austin. If the December expansion proceeds smoothly, it will serve as the strongest real-world validation yet that Elon Musk’s decade-long robotaxi vision is finally shifting from promise to reality.

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