Tesla makes massive change to Robotaxi ride pricing once again


Tesla Robotaxi is getting another switch-up in fare pricing strategy, marking the second time the company has adjusted how much it will charge riders for a lift in one of its driverless vehicles in Austin.

This time, the change is much different.

Upon the launch of Robotaxi in late June, Tesla was only charging $4.20 per ride, regardless of the length or time spent in the car. It was an ode to previous Tesla humor, and a shoutout to cannabis culture with the comedic charge for a ride throughout South Austin.

Around the time it expanded its geofence into the phallic shape it remains in, Tesla bumped the price per ride up to $6.90, another comedic figure used by CEO Elon Musk throughout the years.

Tesla ups Robotaxi fare price to another comical figure with service area expansion

This was what rides were priced at prior to the latest adjustment, which came with the Robotaxi app update v25.7.10. Now, ride price will depend on length, as Tesla is rolling out what it is calling “Dynamic Pricing,” stating that shorter rides will cost less, and longer rides will cost more.

We received the update to our Robotaxi app late last night:

The update also included bug fixes and minor improvements to the app.

It looks as if hailing a Tesla Robotaxi from one end of the geofence to the other will cost roughly $13.70. The length of the ride is about 11 miles. The same route at about 8:30 this morning with an Uber would cost over $16:

It was only a matter of time before Tesla launched this Dynamic Pricing model for Robotaxi, as it aims to expand to California in the coming weeks, and it also will broaden the Austin geofence within the next week, according to Musk on last week’s Earnings Call. He said:

“As some may have noted, we have already expanded our service area in Austin. It’s bigger and longer, and it’s going to get even bigger and longer. We are expecting to greatly increase the service area to well in excess of what competitors are doing, hopefully in a week or two.”

The pricing still appears to be more affordable than competing ride-hailing services like Uber. It will be interesting to see if Tesla is able to continue undercutting competitors with the early rollout of Robotaxi, especially as things are moving along quickly, at least according to company executives.




Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *