# Tesla Expands Austin Robotaxi Service to 21 Hours a Day By John Kim Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/52490 Published: 2026-11-09T18:49:40.000Z Updated: 2026-11-09T18:49:40.000Z Section: Business > Rides run from 6 a.m. ET to 3 a.m. the following day, with a three-hour pause for charging and maintenance. Tesla expanded its Austin Robotaxi service to 21 hours a day on Nov. 8, extending the driverless ride-hailing window as the company works toward round-the-clock operations by year-end. Rides run from 6 a.m. ET (11:00 UTC Nov. 8) to 3 a.m. ET Nov. 9 (08:00 UTC), equivalent to 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. CST in Austin. The three-hour pause from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. ET is reserved for charging and maintenance. Before the change, service began at 7 a.m. ET and ended at 3 a.m. ET the next day. Tesla has tied longer operating hours to improvements in software for unsupervised Robotaxi operations. Tesla executive Ashok Elluswamy said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call that 24/7 service was a target for the end of 2026, with final software optimization still needed. By the end of the third quarter, Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet had logged [nearly 2 million cumulative unsupervised miles](). Waymo already offers autonomous rides 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ## Links in this article - [nearly 2 million cumulative unsupervised miles](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/37705)