CITIES · Robotaxi
Florida Gets the Late Shift: Tampa Robotaxi Now Runs Until 11 p.m.
A Tampa rider shared a Robotaxi app screenshot late on Monday showing hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., one hour later than before. Tampa follows Austin and Dallas. Paid Cybercab rides remain Austin only.
Sam Ellison, Live desk
Published · 3 min read
TAMPA - Tesla's Robotaxi service in Tampa now runs until 11 p.m., the first sign that the later evening window has reached Florida. Late on Monday, a Tampa rider who posts on X as Michael Mizrahi shared a screenshot of the Robotaxi app over the city's service map. A banner across the booking panel read, "Outside operating hours · 6am-11pm." His post said Tampa Robotaxi "expands service hours until 11 p.m."
The change appeared to land in stages. About 40 minutes before that post, the same rider asked Tesla's Robotaxi account why the app, after 10 p.m., was showing "No rides available nearby" instead of the hours of service. "Does this mean extended hours in Tampa soon?" he wrote. Shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern time, the app was showing the new 11 p.m. close.
An X account that posts daily Austin Robotaxi price checks, @WorldlyReviewer, shared the Tampa screenshot and wrote that it "looks like other Tesla robotaxi cities have extended their hours to 11 pm too." Tesla's official Robotaxi account had not posted a Tampa notice by early Tuesday, and Cybercab.news has not seen the change confirmed in Miami, Orlando or Houston.
Tampa follows Austin and Dallas. Tesla's Robotaxi account posted on Friday night that rides in Austin were available until 11 p.m., and a Dallas rider shared an app alert with the same hour on Sunday. Elon Musk has said the main work before later hours is making sure the cars avoid pets that are hard to see at night. "Literally trying to avoid grey kittens on grey tarmac in the dark," he wrote.
Tesla began driverless rides in Tampa in July. Since Aug. 26, the city has run on the same 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. schedule as Tesla's other Robotaxi cities: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami and Orlando. The Tampa service runs on Model Y robotaxis. Austin is still the only city where the public can book a paid ride in a purpose-built Cybercab.
The rider behind the Tampa screenshot posts Cybercab sightings often. On Monday he shared the photo at the top of this story, a gold Cybercab parked beside a black Cybertruck. He did not say where it was taken.
For Tampa riders, the change is simple. Anyone using the app in the city now has one more hour to get a driverless ride home from downtown or Ybor City in the evening.
Watch for Tesla's Robotaxi account to confirm the Tampa hours, and for the same banner in Miami, Orlando and Houston. Musk has not given a date for service past 11 p.m.
