Tesla has made a historic first by completing the driverless delivery of a new car to a customer on Friday in Austin, Texas. The company’s Model Y SUV was routed from its Gigafactory to an apartment building in the area, traveling on public roads with no human in the driver’s seat or front passenger seat.
The vehicle, equipped with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) option, was able to navigate highways and residential streets before arriving at the delivery location. However, it’s worth noting that this achievement does not mark the first time a fully autonomous car has been driven on public roads, as Alphabet-owned Waymo has already been offering employees fully autonomous rides in Phoenix since 2024.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted about the milestone, claiming it was the “first fully autonomous drive with no people in the car or remotely operating the car on a public highway.” However, this claim appears to be inaccurate. The driverless delivery was part of Tesla’s robotaxi pilot program in Austin, which involves 10-20 Model Y SUVs equipped with advanced technology.
The company has been working towards its goal of making all existing EVs fully autonomous with an over-the-air software update since 2016. However, the timeline for this achievement remains uncertain. Despite this, Tesla’s driverless delivery milestone has elicited excitement among believers in Musk and his vision.
Tesla is currently battling a brand backlash due to CEO Musk’s politics and work with the Trump administration. The company has also faced increased competition from EV makers, particularly Chinese brands such as BYD, Nio, and Xiaomi, offering more affordable and newer models. Tesla is expected to disclose its second-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers on July 2.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/28/tesla-first-driverless-delivery-new-car-to-customer.html