Tesla expands Texas robotaxi fleet to 420 vehicles

Tesla’s autonomous vehicle fleet in Texas has hit 420 vehicles, marking the latest expansion in what has been a rapid but uneven scaling effort across the state’s three largest cities. The growth is notable when you consider where Tesla started. When a new Texas law requiring commercial autonomous vehicle operators to disclose fleet sizes took effect on May 28, 2026, Tesla had just 42 vehicles authorized for robotaxi duty. Waymo, by comparison, had 577. From 42 to 420: a fast but bumpy climb Tesla began its robotaxi service in Austin back in June 2025, initially deploying vehicles with safety monitors behind the wheel. By mid-2026, it had transitioned to unsupervised driving in parts of the city. When the Texas DMV disclosure law kicked in, Tesla’s 42 registered vehicles were primarily Model Ys. The fleet then scaled aggressively, hitting roughly 175 vehicles by July 15, 2026. That mid-July count included at least one single-day registration spike of 58 vehicles, suggesting Tesla was adding capacity in bursts rather than at a steady drip. By early September, the total had climbed to around 314 vehicles, which included 45 purpose-built Cybercabs alongside the existing Model Y fleet....