The service kicked off as scheduled aboard Tesla's Model Y vehicles, with customers paying a $4.20 flat fee to ride.

(Reuters) -Tesla shares jumped 10% on Monday, lifted by the long-awaited launch of the company's robotaxi service that CEO Elon Musk has for years championed as a key driver of the electric vehicle maker's lofty valuation.

Tesla rolled out autonomous robotaxis in Austin on Sunday to a limited group of testers. CEO Elon Musk said in a post on social media platform X that customers were charged a flat fee of $4.20. The launch puts Tesla head-to-head with Alphabet-backed Waymo,