Tesla started unsupervised Robotaxi rides in San Antonio at 5 a.m. Central on Nov. 9, after the official Robotaxi account posted a launch-geofence map just after midnight, Not a Tesla App reported. Electrek and KSAT also covered the first-day launch.
Why it matters: Both Not a Tesla App and Electrek said Tesla now offers unsupervised rides in eight cities. Not a Tesla App put the advertised San Antonio service area at about 274 square miles, slightly larger than Austin’s 272, and said that would make it Tesla’s largest advertised zone at launch.
The advertised map covers downtown and most of the area inside Loop 410, then extends toward Loop 1604 between Interstate 10 and U.S. 281, Not a Tesla App said. Electrek cautioned that in other cities, testers have found the area where the app will actually accept a ride to be smaller than Tesla’s published maps, and said the San Antonio figure should be read as “up to 274 square miles” until it is independently measured. Tesla did not say in its launch posts how many vehicles would run the city, EV.com noted.
Not a Tesla App said the San Antonio launch is using Model Y vehicles. KSAT reporter Hunter King requested a ride from the station to North Star Mall, was directed to a pickup a block or two away, paid $16, and said a comparable Waymo trip had been about $23 and an Uber about $16. His test route did not use highways. San Antonio was on the list of upcoming markets Tesla named on its third-quarter earnings call, after unsupervised service began in Fort Worth on Nov. 2.