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In what constitutes nothing short of a veritable milestone, Elon Musk has just announced the tentative launch date for Tesla’s first robotaxi rides, along with an intimation as to when Tesla vehicles will start rolling off the factory floor to their customers’ residences.
Tentatively, June 22.
We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift.
First Tesla that drives itself from factory end of line all the way to a customer house is June 28.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025
To wit, Elon Musk has just announced via an X post that Tesla robotaxi rides will officially commence on the 22nd of June, while cautioning that the date is still tentative. Thereafter, on the 28th of June, the first Tesla vehicles will drive autonomously from the factory floor to the designated residences of their owners.
Interestingly, the 28th of June falls exactly 69 days after the international marijuana day on the 20th of April (4/20). Elon Musk certainly possesses a quirky sense of humor.
For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Tesla robotaxis will leverage the unsupervised FSD that is slated to launch momentarily on HW4 vehicles. Elon Musk took pains to stress on Tesla’s Q1 2025 earnings call that HW4 cameras are able to count individual photons, reducing the vulnerability of Tesla’s FSD to visual impairments such as direct sun glare.
HOLY CRAP ITS A #ROBOTAXI!!@SawyerMerritt @WholeMarsBlog @DirtyTesLa @niccruzpatane pic.twitter.com/slfAsu0AQl
— Terrapin Terpene Col (@TerrapinTerpene) June 10, 2025
Even so, Tesla is not taking any chances. Recently, a Tesla robotaxi was spotted in Austin with a tail vehicle, suggesting that this arrangement might be the norm in the initial stages of the roll out at least. Moreover, as per leaked anecdotes, a remote operator will also be at hand to take over the unsupervised FSD at a moment’s notice. Finally, the service will be limited to heavily geofenced areas of Austin, Texas, at launch.
While these arrangements pretty much guarantee safety, they won’t make Tesla robotaxis competitive with Waymo, which currently operates a nationwide fleet of around 1,500 vehicles. Also, to cut costs, Waymo is preparing to switch from the pricey Jaguar I-Pace vehicles to the much more affordable Toyota vehicles.
Will you test Tesla’s robotaxi service if given the opportunity? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
