Tesla plans to allow customer-owned Model Y vehicles to join its autonomous Robotaxi fleet starting in the second quarter of 2027. Autonomous driving chief Ashok Elluswamy disclosed the target date on October 21 during the company's third-quarter earnings call, answering a top shareholder question regarding when unsupervised Full Self-Driving would reach consumer vehicles. [1][2]
The planned deployment comes with major limits. Rather than enabling private cars to drive hands-free anywhere, vehicles will only operate autonomously inside Tesla's managed Robotaxi service zones to generate ride-hailing revenue. The company currently runs Robotaxi in six metropolitan areas using strict geofences, sticking primarily to low-speed surface streets while largely avoiding highways. In California's Bay Area, the service still uses human safety drivers to bypass DMV reporting requirements for autonomous systems beyond Level 2. [1][2]
The timeline represents another shift away from early pitches promising consumer vehicles that could travel door-to-door without human intervention. Tesla reported reaching nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles by the close of the third quarter, while rival Waymo had already surpassed three million miles and operated in overlapping markets like Orlando and Tampa. [2]
