Tesla Has that from company boss Elon Musk (53) Started in small format for a long time and started in the passenger seat in small format and with a watchdog. In the city of Austin in the US state of Texas, Tesla has been able to book selected users in some cars in some cars without one person at the wheel since Sunday. The electric car manufacturer initially chosen the company, especially in a friendly-minded online influencer.
The use of a safety driver in the passenger seat is not new: the Russian company Yandex followed this concept as early as 2019. Tesla thus misses his goal of starting a real robotaxi service, For example, the US magazine “Forbes” judges
. Each company in the robotaxi business initially starts with a phase in which a person is at the wheel or near the tax person. Only when this person leaves the vehicle can be spoken of real autonomous driving.
Tesla’s offer is initially limited to a manageable part of Austin’s city center. Musk had previously announced that only 10 to 20 vehicles would be available at the start. At the same time, he claims that most of the new Tesla cars already have all the necessary technology on board to be autonomous. Therefore, he speaks of millions of self-driving Teslas on the streets and a share of more than 90 percent in the robotaxi business for his company.
Doubts about Musk’s concept
But experts and rivals have doubts about how reliably Teslas can drive autonomously
, Since Musk only wants to rely on cameras and dispenses with the more expensive laser radars that feel the surroundings. With this technique, the currently by far leads by far-leading robotaxi provider Waymo on the way. With over 1500 cars, Waymo now makes more than 250,000 trips with passengers without a person at the wheel. However, Tesla would have a significant cost advantage if Musk’s bet on cameras.
Tesla uses Model Y’s Austin Type. The production of a special robotaxi vehicle without a steering wheel and pedals is scheduled to begin next year. There is currently an employee of the group in the passenger seat who can stop the car if necessary. With him, the passengers also have to register with their apps, as can be seen from some experience reports. An accompanying vehicle follows many of the Tesla robot taxis-and they can also be controlled remotely. Waymo is completely autonomous in a much larger area of Austin.