Tesla doubles Austin Robotaxi service area to 80 square miles, reaching the suburbs

Tesla has expanded its Austin Robotaxi service area for the second time since it was launched in June.

The new expansion has added 40 square miles, meaning the service now covers around 80 square miles in total.

The new expansion comes just a couple of weeks after Elon Musk announced the Robotaxi service would be growing in Texas. 

The increase brings Tesla’s Robotaxi closer to the 90 square miles Waymo currently services in the city.

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The Austin Robotaxi service area has been growing steadily

Following weeks of speculation and rumor, Tesla finally launched its eagerly-awaited Robotaxi service on June 22. 

The Robotaxis are only permitted to operate inside a geofence: a special digital fence designed by Tesla that pens the service into certain routes and areas.

Effectively, this means the Robotaxis can’t travel very far. 

However, within just a few weeks of launching, the Austin Robotaxi service area has been increased twice. 

The area was first increased to 42 square miles less than a month after it was introduced and initially gave Tesla a larger geofence than Waymo. 

Waymo boosted its service area a week or so later. 

But Tesla increased it again on August 3, bringing its total service area to around 80 square miles, a little less than the 90-or-so square miles Waymo currently covers.

Tesla’s Austin Robotaxi service area is now stretching out from the city center and heading towards suburban zones such as Barton Creek.

It’s unclear when Tesla will push its geofence again, but its clear to see that the company isn’t resting on its laurels when it comes to rolling out its Robotaxis. 

Analysts told Business Insider the rapid expansion shows that the Robotaxi testing is ‘going well’. 

For those asking me, here is a comparison of the newly expanded @Tesla @robotaxi
service area (as of 3 August 2025) and the newly expanded Waymo service areas in Austin, Texas.

The autonomous ride hailing service area & system capabilities scalability is certainly being tested… pic.twitter.com/uaPpEP66Cq— Joe Tegtmeyer

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