Tesla Robotaxi riders tout ‘smooth’ experience in first reviews of driverless service launch

Tesla Robotaxi riders are touting their awesome experiences in their first rides using the automaker’s new driverless ride-hailing service, which launched to a limited number of people yesterday for the first time.

On Sunday, Tesla officially launched Robotaxi, its driverless ride-hailing service, in downtown Austin. A select group of people were chosen to receive early access to the program, as well as the new Robotaxi app, which is used to request a ride and will sync everything from climate preferences to streaming settings with each pickup.

Tesla officially launches Robotaxi service with no driver

Teslarati gained access to the Early Access riders program and the Robotaxi app, giving us a first-hand look at the experience. We will be in Austin soon to test out the Robotaxi fleet for ourselves.

However, those who were there for the initial rides on Sunday had nothing but great things to say. Hundreds of rides were taken during the first hours of the Robotaxi program, and neither the company nor the riders reported any issues.

Here’s what people said about their experiences:

• “Extremely smooth stops,” and great awareness of road conditions, including pedestrians, speed bumps, and busy parking lots, were all handled with ease:

Robotaxi slows down really nice for speed bumps. Extremely smooth stops as well pic.twitter.com/H8R2pXllWB

— Zack (@BLKMDL3) June 22, 2025

• Safe navigation around pedestrians who walked just off the sidewalk into the road:

Tesla Robotaxi stops for a man who veered off the sidewalk and onto the road as @JoeTegtmeyer and I were approaching Zilker Park earlier today. The stop was smooth and our Tesla Robotaxi allowed him to get back on the sidewalk and continue with our journey. This man is likely… pic.twitter.com/fozP6A7esK

— JC Christopher (@JohnChr08117285) June 23, 2025

• “Just as good as it is during the daytime” at night. There were no changes to report by riders who took rides during the day and evening:

Here is my experience in one of the first public nighttime @Tesla Robotaxi rides. It was smooth, comfortable and just as good as it is during the daytime. pic.twitter.com/7bDvVaWf3A

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 23, 2025

• Avoided expensive and stressful parking at local tourist hotspots like Terry Black’s Barbeque:

Here’s a huge benefit of Tesla Robotaxi-

Dropped us off in front of Terry Blacks, crazy hard to find parking here, yesterday it took me almost 30 minutes to find a spot and today, I got dropped off right in front.

Didn’t have to pay for parking either. Game changing. @robotaxi pic.twitter.com/yZjQ8u4s8X

— Zack (@BLKMDL3) June 22, 2025

• “Comfortable and similar to existing Tesla cars with FSD,” intuitive and “surreal” experience:

My thoughts after 3 Robotaxi rides:

– Very smooth and comfortable. Similar to existing Tesla cars with FSD.
– App UI is intuitive but can use a couple upgrades (placing a pin anywhere, change trip while in car)
– It is completely and totally surreal.

As a Tesla owner and…

— Farzad (@farzyness) June 22, 2025

• The app is quicker than other ride-sharing services. When a destination is chosen, Robotaxi is already on the way to your location:

My thoughts after 13 Robotaxi rides.

-Driving is very comfortable. It feels similar to our FSD, but braking is even better.

-The app is super fast, pick a destination and the robotaxi is simultaneously on the way.

-Yes our cars do well on FSD, but no one in the driver seat,… pic.twitter.com/pkuaXVxuMP

— Dirty Tesla (@DirtyTesLa) June 23, 2025

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