Tesla has extended the operating hours of its Bay Area ride-hailing service, allowing customers to book Robotaxi rides from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m., the company said on Friday. The move adds two additional hours to the daily schedule, expanding availability for late-night passengers.
The service, which launched earlier this year following a pilot program in Austin, Texas, operates across San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. Riders request trips via Tesla’s mobile app in a process similar to Uber or Lyft, but with vehicles using the automaker’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system.
Despite the “Robotaxi” branding, each vehicle still has a safety driver at the wheel, in line with California regulations requiring human supervision for commercial autonomous ride services.
Tesla has said the drivers are present to step in during unforeseen road conditions or technical issues, while data from supervised operations helps improve the FSD system.
Chief Executive Elon Musk has previously stated that Tesla’s long-term objective is to deploy fully autonomous Robotaxis without safety drivers. Earlier this week, Tesla secured approval from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles to begin testing vehicles without a human driver on public roads in that state.