Tesla Accumulates 50,000 Driverless Miles at Giga Texas and Fremont Facilities
Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software is making significant strides in the realm of autonomous vehicles. The technology is already in use internally at Giga Texas, powering an autonomous Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas [1].
The autonomous navigation system relies on a camera-only neural network approach, trained on billions of miles of real-world driving data collected from millions of Tesla drivers [3][4]. This approach allows Tesla to avoid the use of lidar and high-resolution 3D maps used by competitors.
The FSD software at Giga Texas benefits from Tesla's powerful in-house AI hardware and neural net training supercomputer (Tesla Dojo), enabling advanced perception and decision-making [3]. The software has successfully demonstrated a zero-intervention, 360-mile drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, confirming Tesla's progress towards reliable full self-driving [5].
Tesla is preparing to open the Robotaxi service to the general public in Austin starting September 2025, after a limited beta involving early users over the past 90 days [1]. The company plans a major expansion of the Robotaxi operational area around Austin, possibly increasing from the initial ~42 square miles up to 450 square miles, covering about 10% of the Austin metro area [2].
The Cybertruck, Tesla's electric pickup truck, is also making use of the FSD technology. It has been observed navigating a 0.6-mile route underneath one of America's fastest highways, including a steep 17% incline, traveling through the new Boring Company tunnel [6]. This testing allows Tesla to validate the system's performance under specific physical conditions.
The Model Y, Tesla's electric SUV, also completes an autonomous 1.4-mile route after production at Giga Texas. The vehicle shares the path with other vehicles, encounters construction equipment, semi-trucks, and pedestrians, demonstrating the system's ability to handle complex urban and suburban driving conditions [7].
As Tesla continues to advance in the field of autonomous driving, some features such as fully automatic parking at Superchargers are still being refined as part of the broader Robotaxi platform [5]. Regulatory approvals remain a key hurdle for broader deployment beyond Austin, especially outside the U.S., but Tesla aims to expand its Robotaxi service to reach half the U.S. population by the end of 2025 [4].
In summary, Tesla’s FSD software is already in use internally at Giga Texas for the Austin Robotaxi pilot. The autonomous system uses camera-based neural nets trained on vast amounts of real driving data, avoiding lidar. Public Robotaxi service will open in Austin in September 2025. Tesla plans a 10x service area expansion around Austin (~450 sq mi). Full autonomous features include long-distance driving and are improving to handle complex operations like Supercharger parking. Regulatory factors impact rollout, but Tesla targets a rapid U.S. Robotaxi expansion by year-end [1][2][3][4][5].
[1] https://www.tesla.com/news/tesla-robotaxi-service-austin-texas [2] https://www.tesla.com/news/tesla-robotaxi-service-expansion-austin [3] https://www.tesla.com/blog/ai-day-2021 [4] https://www.tesla.com/news/tesla-robotaxi-network [5] https://www.tesla.com/news/tesla-robotaxi-network-update [6] https://www.tesla.com/news/cybertruck-autonomous-drive-tunnel [7] https://www.tesla.com/news/model-y-autonomous-drive
- The Full Self-Driving (FSD) software by Tesla, currently utilized in the autonomous Robotaxi service at Giga Texas, is powered by a camera-only neural network approach, trained on billions of miles of real-world driving data, thus avoiding the use of lidar and high-resolution 3D maps, setting it apart from competitors.
- As Tesla prepares to open the Robotaxi service to the general public in Austin starting September 2025, the company plans a significant expansion of the operational area, potentially increasing from the initial 42 square miles to 450 square miles, covering about 10% of the Austin metro area.
