Tesla Robotaxi App Shows 'First Ride on Us' Free Trips in Dallas and Houston
Tesla's Robotaxi app began showing new riders a free first trip, with a 'First ride on us' line and a $0.00 fare, according to Robotaxi Tracker creator Ethan McKanna, who posted it on the evening of Oct. 28. He said it appeared live in Dallas and Houston but not Austin. Tesla has not announced the offer.
By the Tesla News Wire staff · Edited by Seamus McKenna · · 2 min read
Tesla's Robotaxi app is offering some new riders their first trip for free. Ethan McKanna, who runs the Robotaxi Tracker site, posted a screenshot at 7:09 PM PT on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026 showing a "First ride on us" line and a $0.00 total on a Houston booking. He later wrote that it "(currently) appears to be live in Dallas and Houston but not Austin in my testing."
What we know
Where: Dallas and Houston, per McKanna's checks. He did not see it in Austin.
What it looks like: the booking card showed a Houston drop-off and a zeroed-out fare above the Book Ride button, TeslaNorth reported.
Not confirmed: Tesla hasn't announced the promotion on its Robotaxi or corporate accounts, TeslaNorth said, so terms such as distance limits or an end date aren't known.
Why now
The offer shows up days after Tesla stretched its Houston map into a rocket shape (our report), a map critics now say is partly out of reach (see today's story). Tesla also has more cars to fill: its Texas fleet passed 1,000 vehicles, with Cybercabs outnumbering Model Ys (our fleet story).
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Days after Tesla expanded its Houston Robotaxi area into a rocket shape, Robotaxi Tracker's Ethan McKanna showed the app refusing pickups in downtown Houston and quoting a 40-minute ride to go two blocks, Electrek and Business Insider reported. He still praised the ride itself.
Tesla designed the Cybercab's battery pack with four individually sealed modules of 4680 cells and extra room beside and under them so it can later switch to cheaper lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, battery engineer Robert Sumpf said on Munro Live. Tesla has not announced a date or supplier for an LFP switch.
Tesla Robotaxi LLC's Texas registry count reached 1,051 vehicles on Oct. 27, 2026, according to FSD Database's tracker of TxDMV records: 544 Cybercabs and 507 Model Ys. That is up from 970 a day earlier and 248 more than a week ago.
