TEST DRIVE
Tesla officially rolls out Robotaxi service in San Antonio
Most of Tesla's current San Antonio Robotaxi fleet seems to be Model Ys.
Less than two weeks after teasing San Antonio Robotaxi service, Tesla has made good on their word. Shortly after midnight, the company took to X to announce its autonomous fleet would begin carrying passengers on Monday, November 9.
The announcement wasn't exactly a jaw-dropper. Tesla previously built out infrastructure for the launch near the San Antonio International Airport and Pearl this summer. And its golden Cybercabs, which are neither equipped with steering wheels nor brake pedals, have become a frequent sight around the area, sharing roadways with Waymo’s baby blue fleet.
The service area covers almost every address inside Loop 410, which makes it Tesla’s largest day-one map since the app’s launch. At press time, airport trips were blocked, and a test drive revealed a few quirks. A trip requested from Tobin Hill required a three-minute walk, and some drop-offs — like the Monarch Hotel near Hemisfair — required an additional walk.
Pricing and wait times were comparable to Waymo, Lyft, and Uber, but the cars themselves were a surprise. Instead of champagne Cybercabs, all sample rides were Ultra Red Model Ys.
Tesla is attempting to make up for lost ground in San Antonio’s escalating robotaxi turf war. Waymo, owned by Google's parent corporation Alphabet, officially launched ride-hailing in February, adding airport service in March. Although the company has had a few hiccups, its Ojais are now common on local highways. After previously maintaining a waiting list, it opened up its app to all local riders in October.
In a July 22 Q2 earnings call, Tesla CEO and “Technoking” Elon Musk said he anticipated rapid growth in new markets, despite the legwork still to be done in building the fleet. A third-party tracker estimates that Waymo's statewide fleet now includes 1,207 vehicles compared to Tesla's 1,080.
Fleet size isn't the only difference between the dueling services. Waymo uses a complex system of sensors for spatial awareness and weather accommodations. Tesla is banking on its AI vision-only learning to help it eventually scale.
Rapid scaling is even more important to the company after Tesla pulled the plug on making its polarizing Cybertruck on November 6 after months of declining sales. In an X post, Musk said its Gigafactory Texas in Austin will switch to Cybercab production by the middle of 2027.
