Insiders reveal how Tesla is preparing for its June robotaxi launch

Tesla is racing toward its planned robotaxi debut in June, with hundreds of test drivers quietly laying the groundwork across Austin.

Over the past few months, about 300 Tesla test operators have been driving through the city’s streets around the clock using prototypes of the company’s self-driving software as a part of the program the company internally calls “Project Rodeo.”

In the months leading up to the launch, Tesla has held a training event with local first responders, worked to build up “critical miles,” formed a team of remote operators, and rolled out a test version of its robotaxi app to Autopilot engineers in Austin and San Francisco.

The carmaker has used test drivers to hone its advanced driver-assist software since at least 2016, but Tesla has intensified its efforts over the past year, four current and former workers told Business Insider.

During Tesla’s layoffs in April 2024, it eliminated several test drivers and moved Project Rodeo from general vehicle testing to the Autopilot department under Ashok Elluswamy, its vice president of AI software, three people with knowledge of the situation told BI.

Since then, the intensity of the program has increased substantially, and many workers have shifted from updating Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system to robotaxi development, two people said.

A looming deadline

Internally, Tesla has set a June 1 deadline for the launch, insiders said, and Musk has been told during weekly Autopilot meetings with Elluswamy’s team that the company is on track to hit it.

Workers said they had not received details about the event or what it would entail.

Publicly, it has provided a handful of details. On Tesla’s earnings call Tuesday, Musk said Austin residents would be able to pay to ride in a self-driving Model Y. He estimated that the program would launch with 10 to 20 cars.

“It feels very forced,” a former worker said. “It’s this breakthrough moment for Tesla, but there is also this feeling of so many last-minute details being up in the air.”

One worker described the June 1 deadline as more “aspirational” or “motivational.”

“A June 1 deadline makes a June 30 launch more likely,” they said.

Tesla has not publicly announced a precise date for the event beyond “June.” The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Key hurdles

The former employee said hitting a June 1 deadline presents challenges due to the difficulty of logging critical miles — testing done in complex or high-risk driving situations, such as navigating heavy traffic, handling unprotected left turns, or responding to sudden obstacles.

These scenarios are crucial for evaluating whether the self-driving system can handle edge cases without human intervention.

Test drivers who spoke with BI described the testing process involved in accumulating critical miles. Tesla assigns test drivers to specialized testing routes, including “critical” tracks, where they’re encouraged to avoid intervening, and “adversarial” tracks, which simulate emergency scenarios like reentering traffic from a roadside stop.

Elluswamy said during the earnings call that it’s “super rare” to get critical interventions and that test drivers can go days without an intervention.

“You can’t easily know whether you are improving or regressing in your capacity” with the autonomous software, he said.

Tesla has also been working with local emergency services, documents obtained by BI show. The company met with the city’s autonomous vehicle task force, which includes members of the Austin Fire Department, in December. It first reached out in spring 2024, documents show.

In March, Tesla performed about six hours of testing with local first responders, including members of the police and fire departments, at a closed testing track, one former worker said. About 60 drivers were split between Tesla test vehicles and personal vehicles in order to mimic normal traffic scenarios, the person said.

A spokesperson from the Austin Police Department confirmed that Tesla held a testing day with first responders from Austin, Williamson County, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Representatives for the Austin Fire Department and the autonomous vehicle task force did not respond to a request for comment.

Engineers are testing out the robotaxi app

Tesla has begun demoing its robotaxi app with employees. The carmaker released an Apple TestFlight version to engineers earlier this year.

It was released in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area. It allows Tesla employees to get free rides within a geofenced region, a virtual area that denotes where the vehicle can safely operate, two people said. In Austin, the robotaxi service is set to roll out across such an area, a person with knowledge of the program said.

The demo program features a safety driver who sits in the driver’s seat and can take over when needed. There has been some discussion around using remote operators as safety drivers for the public rollout, two people familiar with the matter said. The workers operate in a designated facility in California with remote controllers, one person said.

The company has moved some test drivers into remote operator roles, two people said. Tesla had remote operators on deck during its robotaxi event in October; the workers are told to take over only in the event of an emergency, much like Waymo’s or Zoox’s remote operators, they said.

While Austin and San Francisco remain high-priority testing areas, Tesla employs test drivers across other cities, including New York, Phoenix, Seattle, and Atlanta. Musk has said the self-driving cars will roll out to other cities over the course of the year.

For now, Austin is the key stomping ground for Tesla test drivers.

“There’s just always a convoy of Teslas just going all over to Austin in circles,” Musk said Tuesday. “It’s going to look pretty bizarre.”

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