Physix FrontierPhysix Frontier · News Briefing Card (Electrek · Nov 9, 2026)
Tesla Robotaxi launches in San Antonio with 274 sq mi map, no cars seen
KEY FACTS
- Tesla has launched Robotaxi service in San Antonio, its eighth operating city.
- The officially published initial operating area is about 274 square miles, Tesla's largest first-day map to date.
- The area covers roughly 1 million residents and 721,000 jobs; the airport lies inside the zone but is not served.
- Waymo began driverless operations in San Antonio in February and opened to all riders in October.
- Third-party checks show Tesla's actual orderable area in Austin is only about 59% of its published map.
KEY DATA
274 sq miSan Antonio initial operating area
59 sq miWaymo San Antonio operating area
about 59%Austin actual orderable area share
443 sq miTesla Austin operating area
PHYSIX OBSERVATION
Map area is the metric Tesla can inflate most easily; drawing a polygon costs almost nothing. The real difficulty is vehicle density, wait times and the orderable footprint. San Antonio being logged with no cars on day one, plus Austin's measured availability of only about 60% of its zone, shows this is still a demo-grade expansion. For users, the first question is whether you can get a car at all; map size comes second.
Source: Electrek report