Tesla's new Houston robotaxi area is huge, but riders report long detours

Tesla has made its Houston robotaxi area much bigger, but early riders say a large map does not mean a quick ride. One rider's 13-mile trip to work took 83 minutes, and a tracking site found parts of the zone where the app would not offer a car at all.

What changed

Tesla announced on Monday that it had greatly expanded the Houston geofence. A geofence is the set boundary inside which riders can hail a robotaxi. The new outline looks like a rocket. Tesla's robotaxi account on X wrote, "Houston, we have liftoff. Bigger service area now live."

RobotaxiTracker, an outside website that follows self-driving progress in the US, estimates the expansion adds about 229 square miles. Waymo's area in Houston covers about 50 square miles.

What riders are reporting

Hy Luu, a content creator and Tesla fan, posted video of his first robotaxi ride, from his house to his office. He said the car took about 25 minutes to arrive. He was picked up at 8 a.m. and dropped off at 9:23 a.m. He says the same trip in his own Tesla Model 3, using Full Self-Driving (Supervised), usually takes about 45 minutes.

"I think most people would not use this service as it is now because of the wait times for the car coming and then the detours it takes," Luu told Business Insider.

Ethan McKanna, who runs RobotaxiTracker, shared more examples:

• The app showed "location not available" when he dropped a pin at random points inside the zone.
• One route included a three-hour walk to the pickup point.
• Another ride took 40 minutes to go two blocks in downtown Houston.

McKanna said the map may have been drawn this way to get the rocket shape. He also said the service otherwise "feels really good in Houston," with reasonable wait times and a better ride than Waymo.

Not just a Tesla problem

Business Insider has reported that Waymo also appeared to skip certain roads even when faster options existed. A robotaxi may avoid roads with railroad tracks. It may also avoid highways if the service is not yet allowed to use them. Those reasons do not explain every odd route.

What happens next

Tesla is working to scale up. It put its two-door Cybercab, built for robotaxi use, on public roads in September. Texas Department of Motor Vehicles data shows about 200 Cybercabs registered in the past week. That is separate from cars already in service.

A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. It is not clear whether Tesla will change the map or the routing. Luu has not tried a Waymo yet, so his comparison is limited.