According to reports, Tesla is accelerating its rollout of its robotaxi service in Austin, with plans to initiate testing sans security drivers at the helm, mere weeks prior to its official debut.
For several months, Tesla has been building anticipation for the debut of its “Robotaxi” service, a ride-hailing platform utilizing autonomous vehicles from its own fleet, with the initial rollout scheduled for Austin, Texas in June under the leadership of CEO Elon Musk.
Despite extensive coverage, the recent launch has failed to live up to Tesla’s long-standing promise that vehicles produced since 2016 would be capable of full autonomous driving.
Tesla aims to deploy a fleet of 10-20 Model Y vehicles for ride-hailing services within a designated geographic area around Austin, Texas, utilizing human teleoperation assistance. Waymo has been consistently offering autonomous ride-hailing services across various cities, including Austin, where it has been operational for several months now.
Despite Tesla’s claims of significant upgrades in self-driving technology, widespread skepticism remains regarding the company’s ability to achieve even its more modest goals.
The robotaxi service is expected to be built upon Tesla’s ‘Supervised Full Self-Driving’ programme, which has already achieved approximately 500 miles of autonomous driving between essential disengagements across its entire fleet, according to the latest crowdsourced data.
Tesla is poised to further refine its autonomous driving capabilities by fine-tuning a specific model for the unique geographical constraints of Austin, having spent months training its neural networks through trial runs across the city.
Despite previous assurances, a newly released report suggests that Tesla has yet to test its autonomous driving service without human safety operators at the helm. The information presented in this newly released report:
As Elon Musk’s deadline to launch Tesla’s first robotaxi service in Austin, Texas approaches, sources indicate that the company has yet to commence testing its autonomous vehicles or employ human security drivers, despite claims to the contrary, according to an engineer involved in the testing process and a former employee. Before Tesla can initiate its pilot program for customers, this crucial step is a vital prerequisite.
Prior to introducing its premium ride-hailing service in Austin, Waymo conducted a comprehensive testing phase, having its autonomous vehicles accompanied by safety drivers in the area for six months and then operating them without safety drivers for another six-month period.
While Waymo has seized a significant market share in Austin’s ride-hailing landscape, its dominance is tempered by restrictions: the self-driving cars don’t venture onto interstates.
Tesla has collaborated with local emergency services in Austin to establish contingency plans aimed at minimizing the impact of potential autonomous vehicle malfunctions, thereby ensuring public safety.
Electrek’s Take
The ultimate goal of this softball endeavour appears to be quite monumental. It’s a paltry percentage of what was initially pledged, a modest accomplishment that has been surpassed by others with ease. Tesla’s opportunity to finally notch a win in autonomous driving is crafted into a clever punt.
If the project fails to deliver, the consequences could be catastrophic, but at least, it might finally awaken Tesla shareholders to the reality that the company lags behind in autonomous driving technology. Musk’s latest assertions about having “tens of millions of robotaxis on the streets” by 2026 are nothing more than a reiteration of previous, unfulfilled promises – mere corporate hype dating back to claims made for 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.
My paramount worry at this juncture remains the safety of the general public. With ties to President Trump, it’s unlikely that US regulators will take action against Tesla as long as Trump is willing to fire anyone who dares to cross Musk after granting him over $250 million.
If Tesla adopts its cowboy approach to this, it could quickly become unwholesome.
