Tesla says customers will be able to add their own cars to its robotaxi fleet in Q2 2027
Tesla's vice president for autonomous driving named a deadline on the third-quarter earnings call for letting customer-owned cars join its robotaxi network. The Verge notes that Elon Musk's earlier autonomy deadlines have often slipped.
Tesla, the US electric vehicle maker, says customers' privately owned cars could join its robotaxi fleet, a network of self-driving taxis, in the second quarter of 2027. Ashok Elluswamy, the company's vice president for autonomous driving, gave the timeline during the third-quarter earnings call. It is the first time Tesla has attached a specific date to the promise. The tech outlet The Verge points out that CEO Elon Musk has often set short deadlines for autonomy that were later missed or never met.
What Tesla said
Elluswamy explained that the software for the Cybercab, Tesla's purpose-built robotaxi, and for the regular Model Y is the same, and that it is expected to reach customers soon as part of the V15 release. The only extra requirement, he said, is making sure a customer's Model Y can operate within Tesla's geofences (the areas where autonomous driving is permitted) and its fleet management system. He said the first customer vehicles could be added around the second quarter of next year.
Earlier promises
In 2019, at the company's first AI Day, Musk said customer cars could work in a "Tesla Network" and earn owners passive income, and he predicted a million Tesla robotaxis on the road by 2020. Neither has happened. Tesla currently runs a few hundred Robotaxis in Texas and Florida, some still with human safety monitors, plus several dozen fully driverless Cybercabs in Austin.
Results and obstacles
Tesla reported that more than 75 percent of new buyers in North America chose the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) option, almost 20 percentage points more than the previous quarter. Vehicle sales nonetheless fell, revenue was flat and profits declined. The company also launched a Robotaxi safety website saying it has driven 3.3 million miles autonomously, up from the 380,000 unsupervised miles reported in July.
Even if the plan goes ahead, regulatory hurdles remain: driverless ride-hailing requires local and state permits, insurance may be hard to obtain, and in most places individuals or outside companies are still not allowed to use their own self-driving cars as driverless taxis. Older Model 3 and Y vehicles without the latest hardware are also limited in what they can do.
