(Credit: Tesla)
A small group of Tesla employees are testing the company's robotaxi service in Austin and San Francisco ahead of a public debut in June.
The first robotaxis have completed "over 1,500 trips and 15,000 miles of driving," the company posted on X. "This service helps us develop and validate Full Self-Driving (FSD) networks, the mobile app, vehicle allocation, mission control, and remote assistance operations."
The employee rides are "supervised," meaning a human is in the driver's seat but not operating the vehicle, as shown in the video below.
If all goes according to plan, the public will be able to take a robotaxi ride in Austin in June. On the company's Q1 earnings call last night, CEO Elon Musk confirmed the launch is on schedule, and will consist of a small fleet of 10-20 Model Y vehicles. Passengers will be able to call a car in an app, presumably the Tesla app (although the Uber CEO hopes to eventually offer the service through its app, like it does with Waymo).
In October, Musk revealed a futuristic robotaxi known as the Cybercab, with no steering wheel or pedals, but production won't start until 2026. Tesla also plans to offer a 20-person "Robovan."
Tesla is behind Waymo when it comes to truly autonomous vehicles with no driver, even though Tesla is constantly improving FSD through privately owned vehicles. Tesla's controversial approach relies entirely on cameras, rather than a mix of cameras and LiDAR sensors, like Waymo. Still, Tesla is Luminar's biggest LiDAR customer, according to TechCrunch, and likely uses the sensors on its test vehicles.
Meeting the Safety Requirements
There are no legal barriers for Tesla, or any established car company, to operate autonomous ridesharing services in Texas. "Texas law allows for autonomous vehicle testing and operations on Texas roadways as long as they meet the same safety and insurance requirements as every other vehicle on the road," the Texas Department of Transportation tells us.
In California, the DMV issues permits to manufacturers that want to test and deploy autonomous vehicles on public roads. Tesla and Waymo have permits to test with a driver in the state.
Meeting the "same safety and insurance requirements" may not make sense in the long run for autonomous vehicles. In an ideal world, the government would implement different safety standards, a Waymo spokesperson tells us. For example, there is no requirement that autonomous vehicles need to be able to recognize ambulance sirens and pull over. It's the company's responsibility to program that in.
In January, the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA), which counts Waymo as a member, proposed a policy framework that would create a "core set" of Autonomous Driving System (ADS) competency tests and require that commercially deployed ADS manufacturers keep detailed records. It would also update the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vehicle safety standards for Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous vehicles, among other things.
An AVIA spokesperson tells us there has been "no movement yet on a federal framework, though we are hopeful for some congressional action soon."
In December, Reuters reported that Donald Trump’s transition team wanted to kill a rule requiring automakers to report all accidents involving self-driving vehicles, a move that would likely benefit Tesla. So far, the rule is still in place.