Latest news with #FullSelf-Driving
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla Robotaxis Will Reportedly Get a Quiet Launch: Just 10 Cars in Select Areas
PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. Tesla's robotaxis are expected to roll out on June 22, but you may not be able to catch one immediately. The launch is going to be very limited in terms of both cars and operational area, the Financial Times reports. At launch, Tesla's ride-hailing service will use only 10 Model Y cars, which will be geo-fenced to avoid Austin's most challenging roads and areas. Additionally, the cars will be monitored by remote teleoperators who can take control of vehicles in case they run into trouble. No further details have been shared about the upcoming robotaxi service, possibly because Tesla has reportedly tried to block public access to it. The reported fleet, however, falls at the lower end of the 10–20 cars CEO Elon Musk mentioned previously. The project has been delayed for years now, and safety may have a major role to play. The automaker is currently being investigated for crashes linked to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology. Earlier this month, Musk said the company was 'being super paranoid about safety' and suggested the robotaxi launch could be pushed beyond June 22. When it comes to regulations, though, Tesla has the all-clear from the Department of Transportation (DOT). It was spotted testing the driverless Model Ys in Austin earlier this month. Before that, in April, the automaker had conducted internal tests for employees in Austin and San Francisco. Google-owned rival Waymo, on the other hand, has become operational in multiple cities and has a fleet of 1,500 autonomous vehicles (AVs). It entered Tesla's home turf Austin in March, following a month-long trial with users who voluntarily signed up. We are just a few days away from the launch date, but Tesla has yet to provide details about a trial program. According to a New York Times report from earlier this week, analysts expect Tesla's robotaxis to be initially limited to company employees and invited guests. They might not be available to the general public 'for several months.'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla is set to launch its robotaxi service in Austin this weekend, entering a crowded autonomous vehicle field
The launch of Tesla's robotaxi service is tentatively set for this weekend in Austin, Texas, entering a crowded arena of autonomous vehicles already operating in the city. Tesla is competing with driverless Waymo taxis that are already transporting people around the city, while Amazon's Zoox and Volkswagen are testing robotaxis there too. Tesla's driverless taxi service launch has been highly anticipated by investors and fans, however, officials and lawmakers have expressed automotive safety concerns. On Wednesday, Texas lawmakers sent a letter to Tesla urging the company to delay its robotaxi service launch until September, when a new state law regulating autonomous vehicles takes effect. It adds to another letter, sent by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to Tesla last month, asking for additional safety information about its robotaxi rollout. That same month, Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, acknowledged the need for national regulations around autonomous vehicles. 'It's going to be important to have a unified set of national regulations for self-driving cars,' he told CNBC. 'Otherwise, you're going to get into this weird situation where, if you're driving from Maine to New York, you're going to go through 10 different sets of regulations. Cars are going to behave differently. It's not going to make any sense.' Here's what we know about the driverless service set to launch this weekend. For the initial launch of the fully autonomous ride-hailing robotaxi service, Tesla will use its internal fleet of Model Y electric vehicles, updated with the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, without a driver. If the autonomous cars run into a safety issue, a remote driver can step in and take control of the vehicle. The Cybercab is Tesla's driverless taxi that will also rely on the FSD software without a human driving the vehicle. The initial launch of Tesla's robotaxi service won't include the Cybercab because it isn't expected to go into production until at least 2026. Musk says each Cybercab will likely cost less than $30,000 to produce. The fully autonomous vehicle won't have a steering wheel or pedals and will have a large center touchscreen. The two-passenger vehicle won't have a backseat or a rear window but will have a rear cargo area. Musk says it won't have a traditional charging port and will rely on inductive (wireless) charging, which will charge by parking over a pad embedded in a designated charging area. Musk said earlier this year that the service would launch sometime in June. Bloomberg News then reported the launch was poised to happen on June 12, citing a person familiar with the matter. Two days before the anticipated launch, Musk reposted a video on X that showed Tesla testing a self-driving Model Y car in Austin, with what appeared to be no driver. Later that day, Musk replied to a user on X that the tentative rollout of the robotaxi service was June 22. 'We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift,' Musk said. He also indicated that the first driverless trip from the Tesla factory to a customer's house will take place on June 28, which is the billionaire's birthday. The letter that Texas Democratic lawmakers sent Wednesday to Tesla's director of field quality urged the company to delay the robotaxi service launch until a new Texas law takes effect, on Sept. 1. The law revises previous state guidelines for autonomous vehicles and requires the operators to receive prior authorization from the Department of Motor Vehicles. The letter states that in order to get that authorization, Tesla needs to show: that the vehicles can operate while abiding by state traffic laws, have a recording device, comply with federal standards, are properly registered and insured, and can 'achieve a minimal risk condition' if the autonomous system stops working. The Texas lawmakers asked the company to provide 'detailed information demonstrating that Tesla will be compliant with the new law upon the launch of driverless operations in Austin' if they decide to proceed with the launch over the weekend. Yahoo News has reached out to Tesla for comment. In addition to the Model Y taxis being remotely monitored at first, Musk told CNBC that the vehicles will also be 'geofenced' to certain areas of Austin that Tesla considers the safest to navigate. 'We want to deliberately take it slow,' Musk said. 'I mean, we could start with 1,000 or 10,000 [robotaxis] on day one, but I don't think that would be prudent. So we will start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40.' For the initial launch, the robotaxi service is expected to only be available to Tesla employees or by invite. 'The service will probably not be available to the general public for several months, analysts said,' according to the New York Times. Musk says he hopes to have by the end of 2026 'over a million Teslas' doing 'unsupervised full self-driving, where you do not need to pay attention.' Musk had originally promised in 2019 that there would be 1 million self-driving robotaxis on the road by 2020.
Euronews
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- Euronews
Tesla readies for possible robotaxi launch this weekend
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said public rides of his company's first robotaxi might be available as early as June 22 in the city of Austin, Texas. Musk said on his social media platformX that the date could shift because the company is 'being super paranoid about safety.' Some X users reported that they were invited to be some of the first to use the robotaxi on its launch this weekend. The Cybercab, the name for Tesla's robotaxi, had also been spotted near Austin, Texas, earlier this month. Euronews Next has reached out to Tesla to confirm whether the launch is still happening but did not receive a response at the time of publication. The launch could come despite a group of Democratic Texas lawmakers asking Tesla to delay the robotaxi debut 'in the best interest of both public safety and building public trust in Tesla's operations'. Is the Cybercab ready? Crijn Bouman, CEO of Rocsys, a company that develops service infrastructure for autonomous vehicles, told Euronews Next that Tesla's potential launch is important because it 'will emphasise that the robotaxi is real.' 'It will come with the realisation that… autonomous driving just works,' he said. 'It's difficult to say whether [Tesla is] ready or not, but everybody's excited and for sure everyone will be watching'. For Tesla's launch to be successful, Bouman said the company will have to have not only the robotaxi ready but also all of the infrastructure around it. That means scaling up to '1000' vehicles, a 'couple dozen' service hubs to clean and charge the cars and finding regular maintenance services for them, he added. The company, which used to 'control the narrative' on autonomous vehicles, is now facing competition from Waymo, the first company in North America to scale up a robotaxi business, Bouman said. 'If the whole operation isn't included, they won't be close to Waymo at all,' he said, noting that Waymo Rideshare sends a safe, clean robotaxi to a pickup location in five minutes. 'We likely won't see that on [Sunday]'. Might not be enough to 'turn the tide' of public opinion The Cybercab's potential launch comes at a difficult time for Tesla as stocks have plummeted over the last six months withfactories and Cybertrucks being vandalised. Tesla is also facing an investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US after the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system was allegedly involved in multiple crashes, including one where a pedestrian was killed. Bouman doesn't believe that an eventual robotaxi launch will 'turn the tide' of public opinion towards Tesla unless the company starts to be more transparent. 'You have to show that the service is actually working at scale… normally the bar is that a robotaxi has to be ten times more safe than a human driver to gain the trust of the public,' he said. '[Tesla] has to show that [with] … a third party analysis on the data'.
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Musk reveals Tesla robotaxi rollout plans: What is it, how does it work?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced the tentative rollout of the company's long-awaited robotaxi service, starting June 22 in Austin, Texas. Musk made the statement in response to a query on social media platform X, adding that the launch date could change depending on developments. "We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift," he said. Last week, Musk shared a video showing a Tesla vehicle navigating Austin autonomously, without a driver behind the wheel. The footage signals that Tesla is moving closer to launching its self-driving taxi service. Musk also revealed that a Tesla vehicle will, for the first time, 'fully drive itself from the factory end of line all the way to a customer house' on June 28. What is a robotaxi? A robotaxi is a fully autonomous vehicle designed for ride-sharing without a human driver. These vehicles utilise a combination of AI, sensors, cameras, radar and LiDAR technology to interpret and respond to their environment. Many robotaxis, including Tesla's, run on electric power or hybrid systems, offering both technological advancement and environmental sustainability. Benefits of robotaxi services Robotaxis are expected to transform urban transport by lowering operational costs, improving safety, and offering on-demand service round the clock. By eliminating human error, these vehicles can potentially reduce road accidents. Their electric design also contributes to lowering emissions and easing urban pollution levels. Inside Tesla's robotaxi plans The Tesla robotaxi seen in the recent video is a Model Y with 'robotaxi' branding, equipped with Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. 'With the software update, it will become autonomous,' Musk said. He clarified that the vehicles set to operate in Austin are standard production Model Ys with no physical changes. This model is distinct from Tesla's 'cybercab', unveiled in October 2024, which is a separate, purpose-built autonomous vehicle still under development. In a recent CNBC interview, Musk said Tesla's robotaxi will operate under remote supervision and be confined to geofenced zones considered safe for autonomous navigation. The initial rollout will involve 10 robotaxis, with expansion planned across cities such as Los Angeles, San Antonio, and San Francisco. Facing off with Waymo and Cruise Tesla's robotaxi will enter a competitive landscape currently led by Alphabet's Waymo, which has offered self-driving cab services in cities including Austin since 2020. Waymo handles about 250,000 trips weekly using custom-modified Chrysler Pacifica and Jaguar I-PACE vehicles with advanced sensor arrays. Another key player is Cruise, backed by General Motors. It had begun operating autonomous Chevrolet Bolt EVs in cities like San Francisco and Phoenix before a major accident in 2023 prompted a pause. Cruise is now focused on rebuilding trust and plans to relaunch its Origin robotaxi—a steering wheel- and pedal-free vehicle—for limited use in the near future. Tesla's primary advantage lies in its vertically integrated system. It controls everything from vehicle hardware and software to its charging infrastructure. The use of existing Model Y production units could allow Tesla to scale its robotaxi service faster than rivals, who are reliant on mass-producing bespoke vehicles.
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Tesla robotaxi launch hits major speed bump
Once its launch in Austin, Texas, proves successful, Tesla plans to expand its robotaxi program to multiple cities. Self-driving Teslas have already been spotted on city streets with a human riding shotgun ahead of the program's official launch. "It's prudent for us to start with a small number, confirm that things are going well, and then scale it up," Musk told CNBC's David Faber last month. Related: First look: Tesla's biggest bet in years makes street debut However, once it proves its concept in Austin, Tesla plans to expand the robotaxi program to Los Angeles and San Francisco soon after. With Tesla's plan to expand in the state, Musk will be heading back into that regulatory environment, except now the rules governing autonomous driving are much stricter. But first things first. Tesla must first prove that its camera-based Full Self-Driving software is capable of navigating complex urban environments in Austin. "Consumers are skeptical of the full self-driving (FSD) technology that undergirds the robotaxi proposition, with 60% considering Tesla's full self-driving 'unsafe,' 77% unwilling to utilize full self-driving technology, and a substantial share (48%) believing full self-driving should be illegal," the May 2025 edition of the Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report (EVIR) said. Tesla has some work to do to convince the public that it is ready to drive U.S. roads without human assistance. Image source: vanTesla offers users a different suite of driver assistance programs based on their subscription level. The most advanced supervised FSD features include automatic lane change, navigation, traffic light and stop sign recognition, autoparking, and the ability to "smart summon" your vehicle to you from miles away. But a new video circulating on X, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk owns, suggests that the software undergirding the system isn't ready for prime time. One user who says he uses FSD for over two hours of travel daily in the Philadelphia area showed a video that should concern any driver who shares the road with these vehicles. Related: Tesla takes drastic measures to keep robotaxi plans secret The Cybertruck makes a blind left turn and ends up on the wrong side of a two-lane roadway. The onboard display shows that the vehicle's computer recognizes that it is in the wrong lane. Still, it drives along anyway for a good 10 seconds before the driver takes control of the vehicle, just seconds before oncoming traffic arrives. Respondents under the post shared unverified accounts of similar incidents with their Tesla. One Cybertruck owner said, "Exact same thing happened to me yesterday, just shifted into wrong oncoming lane and started logging down the street." Another Cybertruck owner said, "The Cybertruck we just picked up two days ago is our 7th Tesla and have been using FSD from the far I'm pretty disappointed in the FSD for CT. It consistently drifts over the yellow line when in the left lane on the highways." The original poster responded to this comment by saying, "Yea it really does hug the left lane." Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter and his team don't think FSD version 13 is advanced enough to handle the challenge. Piper Sandler had an overweight rating on Tesla, and FSD is the most significant contributor to the company's long-term $400 price target as of May. Despite its bullish outlook, the firm says that FSD version 13 cannot support truly autonomous vehicles without human control. More on Tesla: Tesla claims rival startup is built on stolen trade secrets10,000 people join crazy Tesla class action lawsuitTesla execs question Elon Musk over controversial X post The video above suggests the firm is right. Still, Piper Sandler came to this conclusion after a recent call with Elias Martinez, the creator of the FSD Community Tracker, which monitors FSD's progress. Tesla hasn't had a public update to version 13 since it debuted nearly five months ago. Piper Sandler speculates that the company has been focusing on making the Austin launch a success during that time. Piper Sandler reaffirmed its overweight rating and $400 price target based on Tesla's commitment to launching its robotaxi program in the coming weeks. The firm said Tesla's push forward with robotaxi was "the most important Q1 takeaway." However, the firm now believes Tesla's technology can't handle the task and still retains its bullish outlook. Related: Tesla's robotaxi rollout is alarming the public, new report shows The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
