Tesla expands Robotaxi service in Austin again

Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi coverage area in Austin for the third time in just two months.

The company first launched the Robotaxi service in June, initially covering just a tiny, 22 square mile area in southern Austin. Now, with this latest increase, Tesla covers 173 square miles in Austin, and the company says it's also increased the number of available cars by 50 percent.

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A fun fact noted by Teslarati: The Robotaxi service area now also covers Tesla's own Gigafactory Texas.

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With this increase, Tesla has far surpassed Alphabet's Waymo, which currently covers 90 square miles in Austin with its self-driving cars.

While Musk's proclaimed goal of expanding Robotaxis to cover half the population of the U.S. by year's end remains near-impossible, the company is expanding fast.

It's worth noting, however, that despite the increased service area and the number of cars available, Tesla's Robotaxi service is still only available via invite to a limited number of users.

The news follows Waymo's potential expansion to New York City, where the company recently acquired a pilot permit for running an autonomous vehicle taxi operation.