Tesla has at last moved substantially. On Sunday, June 22nd, the company officially debuted its much-anticipated robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and we are starting to see the first reactions come in. Before getting into those reactions, though, it’s imperative to handle a few important disclaimers. Notably, the service is not accessible to the general public, nor is it fully unsupervised, contrary to what Elon Musk had previously suggested.
Tesla-employed safety monitors seated in the front passenger seat are capable of intervening in hazardous situations by activating a kill switch. Though other autonomous vehicle businesses usually include safety monitors in either the driver or passenger seats, this is usually restricted to the testing phase. Tesla is remarkable for its use of safety monitors even under commercial activity.
The rides are restricted to a geofenced area of the city that the company has painstakingly plotted. Tesla is using extra safety precautions in some situations by employing chase cars and remote drivers. (Some vehicles have been seen running without chaseing cars.)
Invitations have been sent to a number of pro-Tesla influencers, therefore calling into question the fairness of these first negative opinions. Tesla has not said when the general public will have access to this service.
Ten to twenty Model Y cars with Robotaxi branding on their sides make up the restricted trial. First introduced last year, the fully autonomous Cybercab is not anticipated to be accessible till at least 2026. The service operates from 6 AM to 12 AM in a small, fairly safe area of Austin, purposely avoiding roads, airports, and complicated intersections as well as bad weather.
While riders waited for their turn, the company debuted a new robotaxi page on its website detailing several of the policies and procedures related to the service. Visitors are urged to sign up for alerts about when Tesla’s robotaxi service might reach their area. (Musk has said there may be up to a thousand robotaxis driving the roads in a few months.)