Tesla plans to spread the robotaxi plague to seven new cities in 2026, but the service has remained isolated in Austin and San Francisco for three months. However, a few people have spotted the robotaxi service being tested in Phoenix, Arizona, meaning you could be next.
Elon Musk has done a lot of talking. He introduced the idea of the Tesla Cybercab in 2024 at a very strange “We, Robot” cult hangout but barely showed anything promising about the vehicle or the taxi service. Then, the Tesla robotaxi rolled out in mid-2025, but with the Cybercab missing. Instead, it was a few slightly modded Model Ys, available only to investors, influencers, and Tesla fans in two cities. It was noted how difficult it was to catch a ride, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) noted how difficult it was for the robotaxis to stay on the road. Most people taking Tesla’s robotaxi service have a human following behind them — it’s just nowhere near ready.
Despite all that, Musk was promising “500 or more” robotaxis in Austin by the end of 2025. The year ended with 32, compared to Waymo’s 200. To make it even more embarrassing, not every Tesla robotaxi was even operating. Over in San Francisco, the only other city with its robotaxis, Tesla doesn’t even have the proper permits to operate a commercial robotaxi service and instead has its employees driving Model Y’s around with Full Self-Driving Supervised.
While this sounds like total failure on the operational side of things, it sounds like a very good thing to me on the safety side. Why would I want more Tesla Model Y taxis on the road when they are crashing at a rate of one incident every 57,000 to 62,00 miles despite having a human monitor present — this is four to nine times higher than the average human driver. There’s a reason Tesla’s Full Self-Driving mode is constantly under investigation.
Oh, and there is still no Cybercab.
Tesla robotaxis spotted in Phoenix despite the service barely functioning
Even though Tesla’s robotaxi service can barely operate in Austin and San Francisco, I guess it’s going to wreak havoc on even more U.S. cities. Per usual, this feels like Musk wanting to keep up with broken promises and competition rather than make a quality product that actually works as intended. I guess why not, when Tesla fans will say this is all awesome anyway?
The next victim appears to be Phoenix. Model Y robotaxis have already been spotted in the city and shared on X. This coincides with Tesla’s plans to hit metro areas by the first half of 2026, as promised on its Q4 earnings call. Also, the Arizona Department of Transportation (AZDOT) confirmed in late 2025 that Tesla had officially applied for Robotaxi permits in June of that year. By November, Tesla had received the green light after completing a self-certification process to test autonomous vehicles.
It’s all coming together. To haunt me.
Tesla currently hopes to expand its half-assed taxi service to Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas — in the next few months. Meanwhile, there is still no Cybercab and the current Model Y models can barely function without a human there. I guess I’m sorta lost what is going on here. I’m actually a bit frightened. But with Tesla raising robotaxi prices in Austin and hardware upgrades for Model Y vehicles spotted in Phoenix and Miami, it seems the push to expand is finally here. Whether you like it or not.
And Tesla fans like it. A lot. Many expressed excitement over the expansion happening “sooner than expected.” I guess they thought Musk would do it the very final day of the first half of 2026? I mean, I also did. And others feel Phoenix was selected because Tesla means business. Someone noted: “Phoenix is lowkey the perfect test city for this lol — 300 sunny days a year means no weather excuses when things go wrong.” Everyone seemed very adament that Tesla could scale up its robotaxi service in Phoenix and somehow become a viable thing.
I luckily saw a few people with sense, however. Someone said: “It’s pointless when they can’t even scale up unsupervised in Austin.” Another pointed out how small its operational zone is within Austin, making it unable to reach many major areas of the city. And let’s repeat again that it still needs a person inside or nearby. And that they still drive poorly despite that. And that barely any are available when you try to hail one. I just… I don’t get it. I don’t get the plan.
To me, it just feels like Tesla is rushing to spread a deadly disease upon cities that have proven viable for Waymo. Ever see that movie “Maximum Overdrive”? I feel we are getting closer and closer to killer cars becoming a reality as more barely functional Tesla robotaxis descend upon innocent cities. I’m luckily marking myself free from getting run over by a Tesla Model Y using FSD in Los Angeles. We have enough going on over here. I don’t wanna add Tesla robotaxi crashes to my commute.
