Tesla is preparing a massive expansion of its autonomous Robotaxi program, with CEO Elon Musk revealing plans to deploy 500 Robotaxis in Austin and 1,000 more in California’s Bay Area by the end of 2025.
The update came during Musk’s appearance on the All-In podcast, where he offered fresh insights into the company’s accelerating efforts to commercialize self-driving technology.
Robotaxi Expansion Plans
Tesla’s Robotaxi pilot program—currently operating in Austin, Texas, and the Bay Area in California (although dubbed a ride-hailing service in San Francisco and San Jose)—will see significant growth in the coming months.
According to Musk, “We’re scaling up the number of cars to, what happens if you have a thousand cars? Probably we’ll have a thousand cars or more in the Bay Area by the end of this year, probably 500 or more in the greater Austin area.”
The timeline is ambitious, especially with just two months left in 2025. However, if successful, the expansion would mark the largest real-world deployment of fully autonomous vehicles in North America, getting Tesla closer to Waymo in terms of fleet size.
NEWS: Elon Musk says Tesla will have 500 Robotaxis in Austin by the end of this year, and over 1,000 cars in the Bay Area.
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 31, 2025
via @theallinpod pic.twitter.com/LJftdM9CND
How Tesla’s Fleet Compares to Waymo
If Tesla succeeds in reaching 1,500 active Robotaxis by year-end, it would be nearly equal to Waymo’s operational fleet. The Alphabet-owned company reportedly runs more than 1,500 vehicles across Phoenix, San Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The company plans to expand to 3,500 vehicles by the end of 2026.
Unlike Waymo’s model, Tesla can activate autonomous capability across production vehicles at scale—offering a potential leap in reach and data collection if regulatory hurdles are cleared.
A Push Toward Full Autonomy
The fleet ramp-up aligns with Tesla’s broader goal of eliminating safety drivers in specific areas of Austin. During the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Musk confirmed that “We are expecting to have no safety drivers in at least large parts of Austin by the end of this year. So within a few months, we expect to have no safety drivers at all in at least parts of Austin. We’re obviously being very cautious about the deployment.”
The Autonomous Road Ahead
With the Austin and Bay Area programs serving as testbeds, Tesla’s data-driven approach could pave the way for rapid scaling in other major cities. The company is aiming to be in several new major cities in the U.S., also before the end of the year.
