Texas Governor Signs Stricter Robotaxi Bill--Tesla Needs Level 4 Autonomy by Sept 1

Strong message from Texas to Tesla: Get out until you achieve Level 4 autonomy.

Governor Abbott signed the Texas bill with stricter robotaxi rules on Friday, June 20, only 2 days before Tesla’s planned launch of its Robotaxi operations in Austin on June 22. For details on why this is negative for Tesla’s plans to expand its robotaxi fleet from Texas, please see my report from June 19th here.

• Texas Governor signed the bill: Instead of allowing the stricter robotaxi bill for Texas to become law by simply doing nothing by the June 22 deadline, Governor Abbott signed the bill on June 20th. This was a calculated act that could symbolize growing mistrust of Tesla’s FSD and Elon Musk.

• If Tesla needs Level 4 autonomy in Texas, the uphill battle just became steeper for Tesla FSD: Musk chose Texas to roll out “driverless, paid-for” rides because of the lax laws there. While Tesla may still be able to test a few robotaxis in Texas after this bill becomes law on September 1st, Governor Abbott’s approval of stricter laws on robotaxis as a ride-hailing service in Texas sends a message to other states with lax laws.

• Tesla’s Cybercab target of 1 million by 2027 is also in question now: The stricter robotaxi laws in Texas also call for higher scrutiny from NHTSA to make sure robotaxi operators adhere to US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (see Section 545.456 of the bill here). It also empowers the Texas State Public Safety Commission to sanction any companies that run autonomous driving operations that are deemed a “risk to public safety”.

Amazingly, no major media organization covered this story, but I’m sure there’ll be lots of reporting within the next day or two. I’m most interested in reading about why Governor Abbott signed the bill, instead of simply letting it pass by doing nothing. He effectively endorsed the bill.

I’ll end this brief update with a few screenshots in Figures 1 to 3 from Twitter. Happy Sunday.

Figure 1: This Can’t Be True

Figure 2: Asking Grok to Say, “It Ain’t So”

Figure 3: What Could’ve Caused This?

NOTE: NOTHING IN THIS REPORT IS INVESTMENT ADVICE.