Tesla has started conducting test runs for its autonomous taxi service in Austin, Texas, with experienced safety drivers at the helm over the past few days, according to Elon Musk.
The automaker aims to debut its robotaxi service on June 12.
This month, reports surfaced indicating that Tesla has initiated testing of its autonomous robotaxi service in Austin, sans security drivers.
With the service launch mere weeks away, concerns arise about the comparison to Waymo, which conducted rigorous testing: six months with security drivers and another six without, a full year prior to its successful Austin debut last spring.
CEO Elon Musk has officially corroborated the initial rumor, revealing that Tesla has been piloting its autonomous driving technology, sans human oversight, for the past few days.
Tesla has been conducting extensive tests of its self-driving Model Y vehicles over recent days, navigating Austin’s public streets incident-free with nary a human behind the wheel. A month forward of schedule.
Despite his assertion that they’re “a month ahead of schedule”, he also revealed that Tesla plans to roll out the service to paying customers in June, seemingly contradicting this claim.
It seems that Tesla did not intend to test its autonomous driving technology without a trained security driver on board.
Tesla’s CEO revealed plans to deliver an autonomous vehicle directly to a customer from its manufacturing facility next month.
The subsequent month, we will make our first self-delivery of products directly from our manufacturing facility to the buyer.
Tesla plans to debut a small-scale fleet of 10-20 Model Y vehicles for its robotaxi service in Austin next month.
According to Bloomberg’s latest report, Tesla is targeting a potential release date of June 12, although this timeline may be subject to revision.
While details are scarce, Tesla’s proposed service is expected to employ heavy teleoperation, with each vehicle potentially requiring a single teleoperator for operation.
Recent reports have surfaced indicating that Tesla failed to notify local authorities about a crucial aspect of its deliberate rollout of the service.
Electrek’s Take
At this stage, I sense that the experience will be either an over-the-top simulation or a complete mess, likely falling into one category or the other.
Despite Tesla’s claim to be “a month ahead of schedule,” it was only two weeks prior to the intended launch date that the company started testing its new autonomous driving service without a security driver. That’s ridiculous.
Virtually unblemished by mishaps, the test period’s conclusion is merely a starting point for success, not a crowning achievement in and of itself. You should have had no incidents over months of testing and countless hundreds of miles before launching.
In the initial stages, it’s crucial that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) test zone remains confined to a specific, highway-free area where speeds are moderate at most, thereby minimizing potential risks and allowing teleoperators to fine-tune security features? But to erradicate all risk of crashes, I would need to invest a significant amount of time and resources.
