Tesla has launched a robotaxi in Dallas and Houston, but it’s not actually available

Tesla claims to have launched a robotaxi service in Dallas and Houston over the weekend, but so far, online crowdsourcing tools indicate that very few cars are actually available.

But as of Sunday evening, the service appeared to be largely unavailable, according to the British Daily Mail Robotaxi Trackeran online data site that tracks self-hauling services. There were brief increases in availability Sunday afternoon and evening, but by Monday morning, service in both cities was listed as “unavailable.” By comparison, Tesla’s robo-taxi service in Austin shows 46 vehicles available, according to the tracking site. The service areas in both cities appear fairly small: 31 square miles in Dallas and 25 square miles in Houston.

It is not unusual for a robotaxi operator to start small in a new city before expanding. Waymo, for example, too It recently launched in Dallas and Houston With only a few vehicles. The Alphabet-owned company has an estimated 16 vehicles in Dallas and one robo-taxi in Houston, according to the tracker.

Of course, that could change quickly if Tesla decides to deploy more vehicles. But the rocky start and odd timing, several days before Tesla is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, have some calling this another stock pump.

This wouldn’t be the first time Tesla has announced robotaxi news the day before an earnings report, as the company said it launched unattended rides in Austin just days before fourth-quarter earnings, causing the stock to jump several points. Those uncontrolled things quickly evaporated after the earnings report, in which the company announced its profits For the second year in a row of declining revenues and profits.

Safety questions still haunt Tesla’s automated car as well. In February, Tesla reported that its robotaxi was involved 14 incidents since its launch last year. Unlike other robotaxi operators, Tesla omits key details about these incidents from its report to the federal government, so it’s difficult to ascertain the severity of the incidents.

Early reactions to Tesla’s new service in Dallas won’t diminish those concerns. @TexasTSLA posted a video on