Tesla extends Austin Robotaxi hours to midnight as FSD v15 targets round-the-clock service
Tesla has again extended its Austin Robotaxi service window, moving the end of operations from 10pm in August and 11pm about two weeks ago to midnight, according to IT之家, which also cites an X user sharing an in-app notice telling riders they can book until midnight. Tesla AI vice president Ashok Elluswamy said FSD v15 will support round-the-clock Robotaxi operations and is planned to roll out to the entire Robotaxi fleet this month, with the report saying the version scales its neural network from roughly 1 billion to 10 billion parameters. The Austin fleet now exceeds 300 vehicles after more than 100 Cybercabs were added, with Dallas the next planned market, while NHTSA has opened an inquiry into reports of Robotaxis speeding in school zones involving about 1,000 Model Y and Cybercab vehicles; the four listed incidents caused no crashes or injuries and the agency has not decided on a formal investigation.
The one-hour-at-a-time approach, with nighttime detection of small animals described as the main obstacle, ties the service expansion directly to when FSD v15 reaches the fleet; the capability claims come from a company executive and are not independently verified.