tesla ceo musk expects expansion of self driving cars without monitors in 2026Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects there will be a dramatic uptick in the number of fully autonomous vehicles on U.S. roads without safety monitors in the second half of 2026. tesla ceo musk expects expansion of self driving cars without monitors in 2026He noted this will happen after they've been on the roads in Texas - Austin, Dallas, and Houston -during the first six months. The company recently secured approval from Arizona to begin testing there. Speaking at the Smart Mobility Summit in Tel Aviv via livestream, Musk offered a very rosy picture for self-driving vehicles for the next decade."Five years from now and certainly 10 years from now ... probably 90% of all distance driven will be driven by the AI in a self-driving car," he said, according to Reuters. "So overwhelmingly, it'll be quite a niche thing in 10 years to actually be driving your own car."AdvertisementAdvertisementMusk has been notoriously bullish on autonomous driving technology - dubbed Full Self-Driving on Tesla vehicles - for years, but most of his predictions about capability and timing have been well off the mark. So much so that often mocks himself about it during earnings calls and other public appearances.tesla ceo musk expects expansion of self driving cars without monitors in 2026The news comes on the heels of Tesla's first price increase of the year in the U.S. The company increased the price of its Model Y premium all-wheel drive and Model Y premium rear-wheel drive by $1,000 to $49,990 and $45,990 respectively. The company also raised the price of its Model Y Performance all-wheel drive to $57,990 in the United States, up $500 from earlier.The EV maker raised prices on its slow-selling Cybertruck last fall by $15,000 for the Cyberbeast version. However, the Model Y hadn't seen a bump since 2024, when prices were raised $1,000 for all variants of the world's bestseller.[Images: Tesla]Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.