Tesla's Robotaxi service in Austin now runs an hour later, closing at 11 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. Elon Musk announced the change on X on October 3. In the same breath, he admitted why the fleet hasn't gone fully nocturnal yet.

 

The holdup isn't weather or traffic. It's pets, specifically the ones cameras struggle to spot once the sun goes down and contrast disappears into the asphalt.

 

Musk stated the issue bluntly: "The main thing we are trying to solve is making sure that we do not run over pets when they are hard to see at night. Literally trying to avoid grey kittens on grey tarmac in the dark," he wrote.