Tesla expanded its Houston robotaxi service area, and some riders now report unusually long routes, long waits and points where the app displays "location not available". One tracker founder still says the service feels good overall.
Tesla Robotaxi users are reporting routing issues as the company expands its service area in Texas. Some say the car takes unusually long routes for short trips, and that not every part of the new Houston zone is actually available.
Houston geofence grows by an estimated 229 square miles
Tesla announced on Monday that it had significantly expanded the Houston geofence, the area where riders can hail a robotaxi. The boundary resembles the shape of a rocket. The new zone represents an estimated additional 229 square miles, according to RobotaxiTracker, a third-party site that follows autonomous-vehicle progress in the US.
That coverage dwarfs Waymo's geofence in the same city, which covers about 50 square miles.
Riders describe detours and long waits
Content creator Hy Luu posted footage of his first Tesla Robotaxi ride, a drive of about 13 miles from his house to his office. He said the car took about 25 minutes to arrive, and he was dropped off at 9:23 a.m. after an 8 a.m. pickup. His commute in his own Tesla Model 3 typically takes about 45 minutes.
RobotaxiTracker founder Ethan McKanna shared a screen recording in which the app displayed "location not available" whenever a pin was dropped at random points within the geofence. Other posts of his showed one route with a three-hour walk to the pick-up point and another ride that took 40 minutes to travel two blocks in downtown Houston.
McKanna also said the service has strengths. According to McKanna: "the service feels really good in Houston", with reasonable wait times, a large service area and a better ride experience than Waymo.
Routing quirks are not unique to Tesla
Business Insider previously reported that Alphabet's Waymo appeared to avoid certain roads to reach a destination despite faster options. A robotaxi may exclude some routes to avoid railroad tracks, or to avoid highways if the service has not yet been made available there, although those reasons don't account for every routing choice.
Meanwhile, Tesla has been working to scale up the service after deploying its two-door Cybercab on public roads in September. Data from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles showed the company registered about 200 Cybercabs in the past week. A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: Business Insider
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