Tesla Robotaxi struggles to get riders where they want to go

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Tesla Robotaxi struggles to get riders where they want to go

Tesla's driverless ride-hailing service has attracted complaints from users in Texas over unusually long routes and missed destinations. One passenger was quoted 66 minutes for a 2.3-mile journey, while another says he was dropped off three miles from where he wanted to go.

Tesla is apparently still struggling with some fairly basic aspects of its Robotaxi service in Texas. As Electrek reports, several users have recently documented problems with routing, pickups and drop-offs – including Tesla owners and supporters who have been testing the service within its approved operating areas.

In one particularly striking case, Reggie Overton, who describes himself as a Tesla Ambassador, wanted to travel just 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometres), but the Robotaxi app calculated a journey time of one hour and six minutes. Customer support reportedly told him that the estimate was a bug.

The estimated journey time then briefly dropped to 16 minutes before jumping back to 57 minutes. According to Overton, however, the actual route never changed. A support employee could see the same 57-minute journey but was unable to reroute the vehicle. In the end, Overton and the other passengers changed the destination, got out and ordered an Uber for the rest of the journey.

“For a 2.3-mile trip, this was an incredibly frustrating experience especially when support had no way to correct what was clearly a routing problem,” Overton wrote. He initially also complained: “I didn’t even get a refund.” That changed after his account of the journey attracted more than 630,000 views.

Robotaxi struggles with pickups and drop-offs

It was not the only such incident documented in recent days. Electrek also points to reports from a Dallas-based user called TexasTSLA, who describes himself as a four-time Tesla owner and has posted videos of several problematic Robotaxi journeys within Tesla’s approved operating area.

He said a Robotaxi dropped him off three miles (4.8 kilometres) from his car because it was too late at night. The app showed that his destination exceeded the vehicle’s remaining service time at around 9.30 pm. According to the user, rider support said there was nothing it could do because the vehicle’s shift was ending.

Two days later, he took three Robotaxi rides in one day. On one of them, the vehicle missed the drop-off and rider support eventually had to intervene remotely to get the passengers to their destination. On another, the Robotaxi repeatedly passed the intended drop-off before the passengers gave up and walked.

The incidents are notable because Tesla’s driverless service still operates on a relatively small scale. According to figures cited by Electrek, Tesla recorded 380,000 miles (around 612,000 kilometres) of unsupervised driving between January and July 2026. Earlier reports also indicated that Tesla had registered 42 robotaxis in Texas in June, well below Elon Musk’s earlier target of 1,000 vehicles.

Tesla launched Robotaxi operations in Dallas and Houston in April within limited geofenced areas. The service does not have a safety driver in the vehicle, although remote personnel can intervene when necessary – as one of the recent journeys illustrates.

Source

- electrive (2026-08-25) - Original article: Tesla Robotaxi struggles to get riders where they want to go