Tesla Inc. officially expanded its robotaxi operations to Dallas and Houston on April 18, 2026, according to company announcements and official social media updates. The move represents the first geographic broadening of the company’s autonomous ride-hailing service since it began unsupervised rides in Austin earlier this year. The rollout is a key component of the seven-city expansion plan outlined in Tesla's Q4 2025 shareholder update, which aims to bring the service to Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas by the end of June 2026.
The service is currently restricted to specific geofenced areas within both cities. In Houston, the initial zone covers approximately 25 square miles, centered on the Willowbrook and Jersey Village neighborhoods in the northwest. In Dallas, the service area includes portions of Highland Park, Uptown, and the central business district. Users can hail the vehicles via the Tesla mobile application, which has been updated to include the Robotaxi hailing interface for eligible residents in these zones.
The current operational fleet consists of Model Y SUVs running the latest version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. Tesla’s official Robotaxi account confirmed that these vehicles are operating unsupervised, meaning no human safety driver or monitor is present in the front seats. This marks a significant step from the company’s earlier pilot programs that utilized human oversight. While Tesla did not disclose the exact number of vehicles deployed, third-party tracking services reported an initial presence of at least one active vehicle in each city at the time of launch, compared to a fleet of approximately 46 to 80 vehicles in the more established Austin market. CEO Elon Musk confirmed the launch on social media, encouraging residents to try the service in the new markets.
Tesla is operating the service under a statewide Transportation Network Company (TNC) permit issued by the state of Texas. This permit provides a legal framework for both supervised and unsupervised autonomous vehicle operations across the state. However, the regulatory environment is evolving; the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is scheduled to begin enforcing stricter autonomous vehicle requirements on May 28, 2026, which will require operators to provide more detailed safety self-assessments to the state.
The expansion comes four days before Tesla is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2026 financial results on April 22. In previous earnings calls, the company has emphasized that its long-term strategy is increasingly tied to the success of its artificial intelligence and robotics divisions. Tesla also recently confirmed that volume production of the Cybercab, a purpose-built autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals, is targeted for later in 2026 at its Texas Gigafactory. This vehicle is intended to eventually replace the Model Y as the primary platform for the robotaxi network.
Tesla enters the Dallas and Houston markets approximately two months after Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo launched its own fully driverless commercial service in both cities. Waymo, which operates through a partnership with Avis Budget Group, currently reports delivering over 500,000 paid robotaxi rides per week across its active U.S. markets.