With a few hiccups, Tesla heads west but scale will still take some time to achieve in an industry now full of promising startups.

CNBC went to Austin, Texas, to check out the supervised, invitation-only launch of no more than 20 of Tesla‘s robotaxis. CEO Elon Musk once promised Tesla would be able to drive themselves and owners would be able to rent out their vehicles for rideshare.

A group of state treasurers and investors is complaining that the company, facing falling sales, is about to miss a legal deadline to hold a shareholder forum.

San Francisco is likely to prove a more challenging area for Tesla’s self-driving systems. The city is significantly more densely populated and has more challenging roads, largely due to its extreme topography and steep streets.

Tesla's AGM will occur four months later than required—not good enough, says Charles Elson: 'The law has to be equally and neutrally applied. There aren’t special exceptions.'

Less than a month after its debut in Austin, Elon Musk's Tesla robotaxi service is poised to expand its operations around the Texas capital, while adding a controversial new feature to its services. On Wednesday,

Despite these issues, Tesla investors appear to be convinced that the company will experience a surge in sales trends at some point. This is evident by the wild premium the stock commands. Shares trade at a price-to-earnings ratio of 169 as of this writing. A valuation like this bakes in huge sales and earnings growth for years to come.

Tesla is expanding its initial small Robotaxi offering in Austin, Texas, and planning to introduce Robotaxi services in California and Arizona. The company

In Austin, Tesla currently operates its robotaxi service using modified Model Y vehicles, charging riders a flat $4.20 per trip. The service is available to a small group of pre-selected passengers and operates only in clear weather conditions.