Following the launch of its Model Y Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas on Sunday, Tesla’s stock experienced a significant rally, closing up 8.23% at $348.68 per share on Monday after surging as much as 11% during intraday trading, according to reports from CNBC and Bloomberg.
The service debuted with a select group of invited users, including long-time Tesla fans, promoters, and shareholders, many of whom generate income from content related to Tesla and CEO Elon Musk on platforms like X and YouTube. Musk announced on X that each ride would cost $4.20 and congratulated the company’s AI software and chip design teams on a successful launch, calling it the “culmination of a decade of hard work.”
Wall Street analysts reacted positively, with Barclays analyst Dan Levy noting the first day of operations was “generally smooth with no major issues.” One early user claimed to have taken 11 trips with “zero failures.”
However, videos captured by other road users and researchers painted a slightly different picture, showing the autonomous taxis appearing to violate traffic rules. One Robotaxi was reportedly seen briefly driving on the wrong side of the road. Ed Niedermeyer, a known Tesla critic, shared a video of a Robotaxi braking abruptly in traffic, apparently in response to a police car parked off the travel lane.
Other videos showed a Model Y botching a left turn and another exceeding the speed limit. A video by investor and former Tesla podcaster Rob Maurer showed his Robotaxi entering a left-turn-only lane, hesitating, and then swerving right into an empty lane of oncoming traffic, crossing a double yellow line. The sound of a car horn can be heard in the video.
Other early riders, including investor Sawyer Merritt and YouTube personality Herbert Ong, also documented their Robotaxis exceeding posted speed limits.
Despite these incidents, an Austin city spokesperson stated that no safety incidents involving Tesla’s Robotaxi service were reported over the weekend. This is not the first time Tesla’s autonomous systems have been scrutinized for traffic violations; in February 2023, the company recalled over 362,000 vehicles after the NHTSA pointed out that its FSD system could lead to violations of local traffic laws.
The service’s debut was met with strong opposition from some Texas Democratic lawmakers and public safety advocates, who urged Tesla to postpone the launch. Tesla has not yet released this “FSD Unsupervised” software, currently being tested on Texas streets, to the general public.