Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said the automaker’s Robotaxi service will soon expand to include beaches in Miami and Tampa after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) called for the service to cover the areas.
Ron DeSantis Wants Tesla Robotaxi to Serve Beaches
In a post on X on Tuesday, DeSantis quoted Tesla investor and influencer Sawyer Merritt, who shared the Robotaxi’s updated Geofences across U.S. cities in square miles.
Tesla’s Robotaxi in Austin and Houston cover 272 and 254 square miles, respectively, while Dallas accounts for 81 square miles.
The Miami geofence covers 31 square miles, while geofences in Tampa and Orlando span 24 and 26 square miles each, Merritt said. “They need to have the Tampa and Miami ones include the beaches!” DeSantis said in his post.
Musk responded to DeSantis’ post. “Coming soon,” the Tesla CEO said in the post, affirming that the service will cover those areas.
Notably, Tesla’s rival Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo covers a 60-square-mile service area in Miami and a 50-square-mile area in Tampa, covering beaches as well in the respective cities.
Cybercab Fleet Exceeds Model Y in Austin
Meanwhile, Merritt posted on X that the Cybercab fleet in Austin had “officially surpassed the Model Y” fleet as Tesla continues the Cybercab rollout in Texas.
According to Merritt’s post, Tesla has registered 544 Cybercab Robotaxis in Austin, compared to 507 units of the Model Y Robotaxi. The company’s total fleet in Austin has now expanded to 1,051 Robotaxis, Merritt said.
Cathie Wood Sees Robotaxi as Integral to Tesla
Investor Cathie Wood-led ARK Invest pointed out that Tesla could expand its footprint across other forms of transportation, saying that its Robotaxis could head underground after collaborating with Musk’s tunneling startup The Boring Company.
Wood had earlier said that Robotaxis will represent more than 80% of Tesla’s enterprise value by 2031, predicting that the stock would reach a value of $4,400 in the firm’s base case scenario for 2031.
However, critics like investor Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management questioned the company’s rollout of its Robotaxis, pointing to Amazon.com Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Zoox Robotaxi expanding into Santa Monica in California. “Where are the cybercabs”? Gerber questioned.
Price Action: Tesla shares rose 0.23% to $408.41 during overnight trading on Tuesday, after TSLA recorded a 4.04% surge to $407.46 at market close.
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