Key Takeaways Tesla shares jumped 8% Monday after the EV maker launched its autonomous vehicle service on Sunday. Several users posted online about their experiences in the driverless cars within a certain area of Austin, Texas. CEO Elon Musk has said the company plans to expand to more cities and a larger number of vehicles by the end of next year. Tesla (TSLA) shares soared 8% Monday, a day after the electric vehicle maker launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. The small-scale launch Sunday featured invites sent to Tesla retail investors and several people with social media accounts dedicated to the brand, Bloomberg reported. Several users who took some of the first rides on Sunday posted about their experiences on X, the social media platform also owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who wrote that each ride cost a flat fee of $4.20. User videos indicated no one sat in the driver's seat, a Tesla employee was in the passenger seat to monitor the experience, and passengers sat in the back. In a Monday note, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said that analysts from the firm took two 15-minute rides in the service on Sunday, and said that "we expected to be impressed but walking away from it, all there is to say is that this is the future." Even with Monday's gains, Tesla shares are still down about 14% since the start of the year. Musk congratulated the Tesla team responsible for the software, and the EV maker compiled a thread of posts about the experience. The company also made a separate social media account specifically for the robotaxi service. The company hasn't revealed when the service will be available to the general public, but Musk has said in interviews that the plan is to start with 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles operating autonomously in Austin, and quickly expand to more cities and potentially hundreds of thousands of vehicles by the end of next year. Tesla is also planning to start production on its "Cybercab" robotaxi, with no steering wheel or pedals, next year. Some analysts, like Wedbush's Ives, are especially bullish on what the dawn of autonomous vehicles could mean for Tesla's valuation, expecting robotaxis and self-driving software to double Tesla's market capitalization by the end of next year. This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect the latest share price information and include comments from Wedbush analysts. Do you have a news tip for Investopedia reporters? Please email us at [email protected]