Tesla expands Robotaxi service to Tampa and Orlando

Tesla announced that its Robotaxi autonomous ride‑hailing service is now operating in Tampa and Orlando, adding two Florida cities to its pilot network just ahead of its second‑quarter earnings call. The company provided maps of the designated service zones but did not disclose how many vehicles are in each market or whether the rides are open to the general public. The Florida rollout follows earlier pilots in Austin (June 2025), Dallas, Houston, and a limited launch in Miami, and brings the total number of U.S. metropolitan areas with a Robotaxi presence to six.

Tesla said paying passengers have traveled nearly 2.5 million paid miles, including more than 380,000 unsupervised miles across six cities. The rollout is progressing slower than the company’s earlier promises of “hyper‑exponential” growth and is lagging behind competitor Waymo, which operates over 3,500 fully driverless vehicles and has logged more than 220 million autonomous miles. Executives cited city‑by‑city regulatory differences and operational challenges as reasons for the gradual expansion. A proposal by the U.S. Department of Transportation to remove brake‑pedal requirements for fully autonomous vehicles could affect future deployments.