Tesla achieved a historic milestone on Thursday when one of its Model Y SUVs drove itself from the company’s factory near Austin directly to a customer’s home without any human intervention, marking the first fully autonomous vehicle delivery in automotive history.
Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk announced the breakthrough on X, revealing that the Tesla Model Y completed the “across town” journey using highways whilst operating without anyone inside the vehicle or remote operators controlling it.
Tesla’s head of AI and Autopilot, Ashok Elluswamy, confirmed the vehicle reached a maximum speed of 72 miles per hour during the autonomous delivery.
Although Musk’s post did not include video or images of the historic journey, he promised that footage of the event would be released soon.
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The delivery occurred one day ahead of Musk’s previously announced target date of June 28 — which coincides with his 54th birthday — for the first autonomous delivery.
This achievement aligns with Musk’s strategic bet that artificial intelligence and robotics represent the future of his electric car company. The milestone comes just days after Tesla launched its long-awaited robotaxi service on June 22, offering select influencers and investors rides in a small fleet of self-driving Model Y SUVs within a limited area of Austin.
Tesla has been developing its full self-driving software for several years, with the company gradually expanding testing and deployment.
The successful factory-to-home delivery could signal Tesla’s readiness to scale autonomous vehicle operations beyond controlled environments, though widespread adoption will likely depend on regulatory approval and continued safety validation.
