- Tesla's new robotaxi geofence in Austin is creating a buzz for having a phallic shape.
- The new geofence cuts across that of Waymo's and is larger by a few square miles.
- Analysts view the geofence expansion as a positive sign for Tesla's robotaxi testing progress.
Tesla just revealed its new robotaxi geofence, and its shape is raising eyebrows.
Rolled out in the morning of July 14, some early users of Tesla's robotaxi app immediately noticed that the shape of the new geofence in Austin resembles that of the male appendage.
It is unclear whether the shape was intentional, but Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, don't seem to oppose that idea.
Musk reposted a video by X account Teslaconomics, now viewed over 17 million times, which seems to be the first to notice the shape of the new geofence, adding that it's "bigger, longer, and uncut."
Tesla's official robotaxi account made a similar post on X, alongside a screenshot of the geofence.
Other X users posted the Tesla geofence cuts across that of Waymo's, and is now larger by a few square miles.
Tesla Robotaxi (red) vs. Waymo geofence in Austin.
Much can be said about the shape... but the Robotaxi area is now ~3.9 mi² (10 km²) larger than Waymo's!! pic.twitter.com/dVfh2ODxJC
When Tesla's robotaxis first became accessible to dozens of invited tech influencers and investors in June, the vehicles were confined to the area that encircles Zilker, South Lamar, South Congress, East Riverside Otorff, and part of the Lakeshore and the Rainey Street Historic District.
By comparison, Waymo's geofence was about twice as large at the time. Waymo has been testing driverless vehicles around Austin since 2023 and, as of March, became available to Uber customers who opted in.
Musk had said in April that the company would rapidly "scale up robotaxis after the launch" and that the vehicles would be in "many other cities in the US" by the end of the year. He also predicted there would be "millions of Teslas" operating autonomously by the second half of 2026.
Seth Goldstein, Equity Strategist at Morningstar, previously told BI that he considers the current state of Tesla robotaxis to be a testing phase and not fully operational.
"I think the expansion signals the robotaxi testing is going well," Goldstein said Monday after learning of the expansion. "I think Tesla expanded the service area and invited more people to join the testing. Both are signs of progress."
Waymo and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
