Tesla Robotaxi waitlist now open to all

Last month when Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company’s Robotaxi service would be “open access” in September, we had some reservations about what that really meant. Now we have a little more clarity. The company announced last night that everyone with an iPhone can download the app and join a waitlist where it’s “expanding access soon.” The Android app is coming “in the future.”

Tesla’s autonomous Robotaxi service is available via roughly 30 vehicles in Austin and features a human safety monitor in the passenger seat. Tesla’s more traditional Uber-like ride-sharing service is available in the Bay Area with an undisclosed number of cars. For that service, a driver sits in the driver’s seat and uses Tesla’s supervised Full Self-Driving technology, which requires drivers to pay attention and keep their hands on the wheel.

The app helpfully provides this distinction: “If your ride is taking place without a safety driver present in the driver’s seat, it is being conducted autonomously... If your ride is taking place with a safety driver present in the driver’s seat, it is being conducted using FSD (Supervised).”

I joined the waitlist this morning and will let you know more details when I get in and can book a ride.

Tesla’s stock is up nearly 1% premarket. Uber’s is basically unchanged.