Driverless taxi allegedly leaves passenger 5km from destination because it was too late at night
A man in the United States claimed he was left well short of his intended destination by a driverless taxi after it got too late.
In an X post on 18 Aug, the man tagged Tesla’s Robotaxi and said: “Can’t believe @robotaxi dropped me off 3 miles away from my car because it was too late at night.”
The video he attached to the post showed him walking down a dark road.
Source: @TexasTSLA on X
When the man contacted support, they told him there was nothing they could do because they were just about done with their shift that night.
Not the only case
In a previous post, the man showed a screenshot of the app telling him that the destination “exceeds the vehicle’s remaining service time” despite it being only 9.17pm.
Source: @TexasTSLA on X
According to their own post on 26 Aug, Tesla Robotaxi runs from 6am to 10pm.
The man, whose profile indicated that he owns a Tesla vehicle, also documented other instances where Robotaxi had hiccups.
In one instance, he claimed that his 8-minute ride quadrupled in length due to the driverless car’s issues with navigation and dropping off passengers.
Source: @TexasTSLA on X
He was not the only one making these complaints about issues either.
Another man on X by the name of Reggie Overton said his destination was only 3.7km away, but Robotaxi’s estimate told him the trip would take one hour and six minutes.
Reggie, who describes himself as a “Tesla Ambassador”, claims it was a routing issue. A photo he shared of the route shows the Robotaxi picking the long way around.
When support failed to assist him, Reggie decided to get out and take an Uber instead.
Source: @reggieoverton on X
“For a 2.3-mile (about 3.7km) trip, this was an incredibly frustrating experience especially when support had no way to correct what was clearly a routing problem,” he wrote.
Both cases refunded
Both men’s accounts of their poor experience with the Tesla service went viral. Both men also subsequently received refunds for the trips.
“Thanks for the refund,” the first man wrote. Screenshots showed his ride had cost US$5.95 (S$7.60).
Source: @TexasTSLA on X
On 24 Aug, a day after Reggie’s post, the official Robotaxi X account responded to his viral post.
Thank you for the feedback
We provided a refund for this ride earlier today and will continue to improve the rider experience at every level
— Robotaxi (@robotaxi) August 23, 2026
“We provided a refund for this ride earlier today and will continue to improve the rider experience at every level,” they wrote.
These hiccups are not new to Tesla. Ever since it rolled out its service back in 2025, there have been reports of the driverless taxis pulling strange antics.
Videos posted online showed cars driving against traffic, speeding, and stopping abruptly at intersections.
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Featured images adapted from @robotaxi on X and @TexasTSLA on X.
