Key Tesla Unsupervised Robotaxi Houston Field Report Findings

Tesla Unsupervised Robotaxi Houston Field Report

After spending an afternoon in Houston riding in a Tesla Unsupervised Robotaxi and conducting depot reconnaissance at the Tesla service center on Hempstead Highway, we identified several operational shifts that distinguish this market from Austin.

Depot: Tesla Service Center (Houston Cypress)

The Tesla depot we visited is co-located at the Tesla service center on Hempstead Highway in Houston. This is the first time that we have visited or seen Tesla Robotaxis co-located at a Tesla service center. During our visit, we counted 24 Robotaxis staged in the lot, with three of the vehicles bearing Robotaxi branding.

Despite the visible fleet, service was unavailable for a period of time as the app said “no rides available nearby.” This changed after we learned that when you leave the Robotaxi app open, your chances of getting paired with a Robotaxi dramatically increase.

Two factors define this site as a potential long-term Robotaxi depot in the Cypress area:

• Infrastructure: Being an active Tesla service center complete with Superchargers and a car wash and fleet management area in the back means Tesla has the infrastructure to scale Robotaxis from this location long-term.
• Service Center: If your vehicle has to stay overnight for service, you have an easy way to get home. We noticed and confirmed with service center staff that Robotaxi picks up by the front door. It did not seem like a coincidence. It felt like it was planned.

The Ride: Robotaxi Drove Like a Houstonian

Houston is the second market where we have ridden in an Unsupervised Tesla Robotaxi, and the ride was materially different from Austin. The Robotaxi drove more aggressively than in Austin as it blended in and seemed to match the driving styles of Houstonians.

Which raises the question. Is Tesla tuning Robotaxi to match the driving behaviors of cities? If they are, this would not be the first time this has happened. Argo AI famously was doing this before the company shut down. Furthermore, we noticed that our Waymo drove in a similar fashion to Robotaxi around Space City.

During our ride, the vehicle demonstrated humanistic decision-making in real-time, including unprotected turns and lane mergers. We did encounter an issue that required remote assistance.

The Bug: Frontage Road

As we tried to return to the Tesla service center for the end of our ride, the Robotaxi was repeatedly unable to exit from the SH 6 / FM 1960 bridge down onto Hempstead Highway. Instead of merging to the right, the Robotaxi continued over the bridge. Then again. And again.

The remote support agent came on the screen multiple times and did not say anything as we said hello multiple times. The pattern of not merging onto Hempstead Highway and the remote agent coming on the screen and not saying anything became a pattern throughout our ever-looping journey trying to get back to the service center.

After several loops and remote agent pop-ups, the vehicle finally merged into the right lane, exited onto Hempstead Highway, and safely drove us back to the service center.

Strategic Geography

Tesla’s Houston deployment today leverages existing service center real estate rather than a purpose-built depot. We see this service center acting as a key infrastructure piece going forward. However, due to its remote location and Houston’s sprawl, we expect Tesla to build non-public micro-depots throughout the city to ensure uptime and reliability.