Tesla's Robotaxi Network Goes Live

First Week Impressions from Austin

In South Austin, something quietly historic is happening: Tesla’s driverless taxi service is now operational, ferrying early riders through neighborhoods, downtown corridors, and pedestrian-packed avenues. The cars? Model Ys with no hands on the wheel, backed by the latest Full Self-Driving software and supervised only by safety drivers who haven’t had to intervene.

The ride quality feels different—smoother, smarter, and more cautious than what most FSD users experience today. But the bigger story isn’t just how well the cars drive. It’s the economics, the software, and the manufacturing model that could upend the entire rideshare industry.

Inside this breakdown:

• What Tesla’s app experience, ride logic, and road behavior reveal about real-world readiness

• Why Hardware 4 performance is a generational leap over Hardware 3

• How Tesla could make ride-hailing viable in rural markets and cheaper in cities

• And the bigger question: retrofit old cars, or build a new autonomous fleet from scratch?

It’s not a concept anymore. It’s a service—and it’s picking up passengers.