On Tesla's Q3 2026 earnings call, VP Ashok Elluswamy said owners would be able to add their own vehicles to Tesla's robotaxi fleet in Q2 2027. The Verge and Electrek both report the statement, which gives a concrete date to a promise Elon Musk has made since 2019. Both outlets note Tesla's pattern of setting deadlines it misses; Musk once said a million robotaxis would be on the road by 2020.
The two outlets differ somewhat in emphasis. Electrek frames the announcement as a major narrowing of what Tesla has sold to customers: the car would not drive itself anywhere, but would work as a robotaxi only inside Tesla-managed geofenced zones, on low-speed routes, with Tesla running the operation. The Verge also notes that consumer cars require additional software layers and that older hardware may be limiting, but focuses more on external obstacles like permits, insurance, and the fact that most places still do not allow individuals to operate driverless taxis.
A second Electrek report adds context: Tesla now counts 1.74 million active FSD subscriptions, but the definition includes people who bought the software outright, because the metric is defined in Musk's 2025 pay package. The company does not disclose how many owners pay monthly. The Q2 2027 date may be a genuine milestone, but both sources treat it with skepticism, given the gap between the original promise and the narrower robotaxi-zone plan.