CNBC noticed a Tesla robotaxi in Austin, Texas, on June 24, 2025
Katie Tarasov
Elon Musk’s Tesla has utilized to check and ultimately deploy its Robotaxi autos in Phoenix, Arizona, following within the footsteps of market chief Waymo.
Tesla has utilized to conduct autonomous automobile testing and operations, with and with out human security drivers on board, in Arizona, a spokesperson for the Arizona Division of Transportation instructed CNBC on Thursday. A choice on the appliance is predicted on the finish of July, and Tesla has “expressed curiosity in working inside the Phoenix Metro space,” the spokesperson stated through electronic mail.
Reuters first reported Tesla’s Arizona ambitions.
The trouble to increase to Arizona comes after Tesla in June started a pilot take a look at of its robotaxis in Austin, Texas. Tesla’s Austin fleet contains Mannequin Y SUVs which are outfitted with the corporate’s latest, automated driving techniques. These autos are remotely supervised by workers in an undisclosed operations middle, they usually every embrace a human security supervisor who rides with passengers.
The protection supervisor sits within the entrance passenger seat, accompanying riders, who’re invited followers of Tesla. The supervisor can intervene ought to the Tesla Robotaxis get into hassle.
Waymo, owned by Google guardian Alphabet, opened up a driverless robotaxi service to the general public within the Phoenix space in 2020.
Tesla, which was as soon as seen as a self-driving pioneer, is now working to catch as much as Waymo. The businesses have distinct approaches to self-driving expertise. Tesla claims its option to largely use cameras as a substitute of high-priced sensors like lidar will make its autonomous autos extra economically viable.
The Musk firm’s preliminary efforts in Austin have run into points.
One invited passenger, who runs a Tesla-focused YouTube channel known as Soiled Tesla, captured an incident on camera the place his Robotaxi dinged a parked automotive outdoors of a restaurant.
Other incidents the place Tesla Robotaxis violated guidelines of the street in Austin have additionally been captured on digicam and circulated on social media, drawing regulatory scrutiny from the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration, the federal automobile security company.
Tesla is scheduled to carry a second-quarter earnings name on July 23, throughout which executives are anticipated to debate the preliminary Robotaxi pilot.
Individually, Musk on Wednesday said on X that Tesla is awaiting regulatory approvals to carry Robotaxis to the San Francisco Bay Space “in all probability in a month or two.”
The California Division of Motor Autos sued Tesla in 2022 alleging that the corporate made false claims in advertising and promoting about its autos’ self-driving capabilities.
WATCH: We went to Texas for Tesla’s robotaxi launch. Here’s what we saw
