Tesla Achieves Milestone with First Fully Autonomous Car Delivery

Tesla says it made its first driverless delivery of a new car to a customer

A Tesla logo outside the company's Tilburg Factory and Delivery Center. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the automaker completed its first driverless delivery of a new car to a customer, routing a Model Y SUV from the company's Austin, Texas, Gigafactory to an apartment building in the area on June 27. The Tesla account on social network X, which is also owned by Musk, shared a video overnight showing the Model Y traversing public roads in Austin, including highways, with no human in the driver's seat or front passenger seat of the car. Tesla did not say which version of its software and hardware had been installed and used in the car shown in the clip -- or if and when that technology would be commercially available to its customers. A Model Y owners' manual, available on the Tesla website, says that in order to use Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) option -- which is the company's most advanced, partially automated driving system available today -- owners must keep their hands on the wheel, and remain ready to take over steering or braking at any time. The vehicle in Tesla's video was shown operating without a driver on the highway, passing through residential streets and around parking lots before arriving and stopping for a handoff to a customer. The buyer was waiting by the curb at an apartment building alongside Tesla employees, some sporting logo-emblazoned shirts. (The curb was painted red, indicating it is a no-stop fire lane.) In 2016, Tesla shared an Autopilot video -- known as the "Paint It Black" video -- that had been staged in a manner which exaggerated its cars self-driving capabilities, depositions later revealed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating Tesla over possible safety defects in their FSD systems, and recently sought more information from the company about its robotaxi debut after its cars were seen violating some traffic rules. In posts on X on Friday, Musk wrote: "The first fully autonomous delivery of a Tesla Model Y from factory to a customer home across town, including highways, was just completed a day ahead of schedule!! Congratulations to the @Tesla_AI teams, both software & AI chip design!" He also wrote, "There were no people in the car at all and no remote operators in control at any point. FULLY autonomous! To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fully autonomous drive with no people in the car or remotely operating the car on a public highway." Musk's claim about the "first fully autonomous drive" on a public highway was not accurate. Alphabet-owned Waymo, which is already operating commercial robotaxi services across multiple U.S. cities, has been offering employees fully autonomous rides on Phoenix freeways since 2024, and has since expanded those rides to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Head of AI at Tesla, Ashok Elluswamy, said in posts on X that the automaker "literally chose a random customer who ordered a Model Y in the Austin area" to participate. He also said the vehicle delivered is "exactly the same as every Model Y produced in the Tesla factory." Elluswamy also noted in a post on X that the Model Y in the driverless delivery traveled at a "max speed of 72 mph." Most highways in Texas have a maximum speed limit of 70 miles per hour, according to the Texas Department of Transportation website.

Tesla makes first driverless delivery in Austin

Tesla said it made a driverless delivery of a new car to a customer on Friday, marking a first for Elon Musk's automaker. The company said a Model Y SUV drove itself from Tesla's Gigafactory in Austin to a nearby apartment building. In a post on X, Tesla said the approximately 30-minute drive included traversing city driving, plus parking lots and highways. The video that accompanied the post showed the car driving without any people in the driver or passenger seat. When the car arrived, the buyer was standing at the curb waiting, along with a group of Tesla employees. As CNBC pointed out, the curb where the car stopped was painted red, meaning it was a no-stop fire lane. Tesla did not specify what version of its hardware or software the car was using. According to the Model Y owners' manual posted on the automaker's website, owners must keep their hands on the wheel and be ready to take over steering or braking at any time when using Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) mode, which is Tesla's most advanced, partially automated driving system publicly available. On Friday, Musk wrote on X: "The first fully autonomous delivery of a Tesla Model Y from factory to a customer home across town, including highways, was just completed a day ahead of schedule!! Congratulations to the @Tesla_AI teams, both software & AI chip design!" The stunt comes as Tesla faces cratering sales worldwide. Global vehicle deliveries fell to 336,681 units in the first quarter of 2025, down 13% year-over-year and Tesla's lowest total in nearly three years. In California, Tesla's largest U.S. market, registrations dropped 15.1% in the quarter. Recent data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association showed that Tesla's vehicle registrations in Europe fell for the fifth consecutive month in May, down nearly 28% year-over-year -- even as the broader EV market across the E.U. surged more than 27%. Meanwhile, Tesla is facing increased pressure from American EV automakers like Rivian and a number firms abroad. Chinese companies BYD and SAIC have steadily gained market share in Europe, helped by lower prices and expanding dealer networks. Chinese brands accounted for nearly 6% of EVs sold in Europe in May, selling roughly 66,000 vehicles -- up from just 3.8% a year earlier. In Germany, SAIC's MG brand outsold Tesla by more than two to one.

Elon Musk Reacts After Tesla Completes Autonomous Delivery Of Model Y: From Factory To Customer Home Across Town, Through Highways - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Tesla Inc. TSLA has reached a significant milestone in autonomous driving technology. The company successfully completed its first fully autonomous delivery of a Model Y. What Happened: Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Saturday that the EV giant achieved a milestone by completing the first fully autonomous delivery of a Model Y. "The first fully autonomous delivery of a Tesla Model Y from factory to a customer home across town, including highways, was just completed a day ahead of schedule!!" Musk said in a post on the social media platform X. Musk credited the achievement to the efforts of the Tesla AI teams, responsible for both software and AI chip design. He added that during the journey, there were no individuals inside the vehicle, nor were there any remote operators controlling it. Musk emphasized that this is, to the best of their knowledge, the first instance of a fully autonomous drive on public highways without any human presence or remote operation. See Also: Tesla Robotaxi Has A Major Advantage Over Rivals Waymo And Zoox, Says Gary Black: '...Could Be Very Significant' Why It Matters: This achievement follows a series of advancements in Tesla's autonomous driving technology. Earlier this year, Musk revealed that Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology would surpass human driving safety by the second quarter of 2025. He predicted that FSD would eventually become ten times safer than human drivers, reducing the likelihood of accidents significantly. In January, Tesla announced a breakthrough, stating that its vehicles could autonomously navigate from the factory to loading docks without human intervention, which was the precursor to the current achievement. Earlier this month, Tesla launched its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, with a limited number of Model Y Robotaxis. This rollout signifies Tesla's commitment to expanding its autonomous capabilities and deploying self-driving technology wherever approved. Meanwhile, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives valued Tesla's AI and autonomous driving technology at $1 trillion, highlighting the transformative potential of the company's innovations. Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Read Next: Elon Musk Reacts To Video Of Cybertruck Withstanding Sledgehammer Blow: 'Built Bullet Tough' Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Brandon Woyshnis / Shutterstock.com TSLATesla Inc$322.71-0.94%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum78.65Growth91.02Quality83.17Value9.81Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Elon Musk's Tesla completes first driverless car delivery in Texas

Tesla boss Elon Musk said his firm has completed its first-ever driverless car delivery to a customer - a milestone that comes as struggling automaker scrambles to reverse a recent sales slump. A Tesla Model Y SUV drove itself from the company's Gigafactory in Austin, Texas to a customer's house last Friday. Tesla shared a time-lapse video of the journal and noted that the car drove about 30 minutes while "crossing parking lots, highways & the city to reach its new owner." "There were no people in the car at all and no remote operators in control at any point. FULLY autonomous!" Musk wrote in an X post touting the accomplishment. Tesla's AI chief Ashok Elluswamy said the company "literally chose a random customer who ordered a Model Y in the Austin area." The vehicle hit a max speed of 72 miles per hour. "Vehicle is exactly the same as every Model Y produced in the Tesla factory," he added. Tesla shares were down about 1% in early trading Monday. The company's stock has fallen more than 15% since the start of the year. Musk's firm has ramped up displays of its "Full Self-Driving" software in recent days during a significant rough patch in its once-booming business. Tesla has lost ground to Chinese electric vehicle makers such as BYD in key markets Europe and China. Tesla has also faced investor questions over its aging car lineup and a brand image crisis related to Musk's controversial work with President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency. In a potential sign of turmoil, Musk reportedly fired his longtime Tesla "fixer" Omead Afshar last week. The self-driving vehicle delivery took place just days after Tesla launched its Robotaxi program on a limited basis in Austin. While the test drew some positive reviews from influencers and analysts who participated in carefully-managed trial runs for Robotaxi, others pointed out that the autonomous vehicles occasionally struggled or failed to obey local traffic laws. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - which has scrutinized Tesla for years of the safety of its self-driving technology - said it asked the company for more information about its Robotaxi test. Musk has suggested that autonomous driving technology can add $5 trillion to $10 trillion to Tesla's market capitalization by transforming its vehicles into an instant productive fleet. Tesla is directly competing with Google-owned Waymo and others in the self-driving car space.