AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s new autonomous vehicle service launched in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. 

Musk wrote that customers could order a Tesla Robotaxi for a flat rate of $4.20. The service was only made available to those who received an early access invitation.

“As an Early Access rider, you can be among the first to use our new Robotaxi App and experience an autonomous ride within our geofenced area in Austin,” read the invitation, posted on Musk’s social platform X. “Through this exclusive preview, you’ll have the opportunity to provide valuable feedback on our Robotaxi service.”

In May, Musk discussed the plans to launch in Austin with CNBC.

“We want to deliberately take it slow,” Musk said. “I mean, we could start with 1,000 [robotaxis] 10,000 on day one, but I don’t think that would be prudent. So we will start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40.”

Musk mentioned on social media that testing had already started. On May 29, he posted on X that, “for the past several days, Tesla has been testing self-driving Model Y cars (no one in driver’s seat) on Austin public streets with no incidents.”

Sunday’s early access invitation stated that “Tesla Safety Monitors” would ride along in the passenger seats with all riders on their Sunday Robotaxi trips. affiliate KXAN reached out to the city of Austin and Tesla for comment but had not heard back as of Monday morning.

“All the pundits like myself had been saying there’s no way that [Tesla] was ready. And then they proved us all right by saying that there’s going to be a person in the [passenger] seat,” said Missy Cummings, a professor and robotics and artificial intelligence expert.

“Good on them for acting in a safe manner, because the consequences could have been severe if they’d let the cars lose today with nobody in the seat,” said Cummings, who was a former senior adviser to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Cummings said she doesn’t think the vehicles are equipped with the necessary technology to avoid incidents while driving autonomously. For one, she said Tesla’s robotaxis don’t have LiDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging, a technology that uses lasers to determine an object’s distance.

The technology is known to be very effective at preventing incidents, even in low-light settings. Competing autonomous vehicle companies, such as Waymo, use LiDAR.

“I do not think it’s possible for Tesla to ever have full self-driving capability, actual self-driving capability, until they get more sensors on the car,” Cummings said.

The rollout occurred days after a group of Texas lawmakers sent a letter to Tesla, urging the company to delay the launch until a new law that increases autonomous vehicle regulation takes effect Sept. 1. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed that legislation into law on Friday. 

“Under the new framework, commercial autonomous vehicle operators transporting passengers or property must receive prior authorization from the Department of Motor Vehicles before operating on public streets without a human driver,” the letter read.

To obtain authorization, an operator must show that each vehicle is:

• Capable of operating in compliance with state traffic laws.
• Equipped with a recording device.
• Compliant with federal law, including federal motor vehicle safety standards.
• Capable of achieving a minimal risk condition if the automated driving system is rendered inoperable.
• Registered, titled, and insured under Texas law.

Along with those requirements, operators have to submit a First Responder Interaction Plan to the Department of Public Safety to explain the following:

• How first responders interact with the autonomous vehicles.
• How to communicate with fleet support and safely remove or tow vehicles from the roadway.
• Any additional information regarding hazardous conditions or public safety risks associated with the vehicles.