Tesla ‘Extremely Paranoid’ About Robotaxi Rollout in Austin

Residents of Austin, Texas, will see Tesla’s robotaxis driving the streets late next month. To start with, about 10 automated vehicles will launch into service. If everything goes well, thousands more will follow.

“It’s prudent for us to start with a small number, confirm that things are going well and then scale it up,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CNBC.

The robotaxis will be Tesla Model Y electric vehicles using a full self-driving system called FSD Unsupervised. Known as “geofencing,” Tesla will limit where the autonomous cars can drive to only the safest areas. While Tesla employees will remotely monitor the vehicles, there won’t be a human driver behind the wheel.

“We’ll be watching what the cars are doing very carefully and as confidence grows, less of that will be needed,” Musk said.

To avoid the high cost and complications of sophisticated sensors and radar, Tesla’s driverless vehicles rely on cameras, computer vision, and artificial intelligence. By keeping expenses low, Tesla can produce more vehicles and scale up more quickly than competitors.

The Road Ahead for Tesla’s Robotaxis

According to Musk, Tesla is “extremely paranoid” about the Austin robotaxi rollout. With increased government scrutiny and a lack of clear government guidelines, it’s crucial that the launch goes off as planned to stay ahead of rivals. Already, Alphabet-owned Waymo is making 250,000 paid trips per week across various cities.

Ahead of the Austin robotaxi launch, government regulators reached out to Tesla regarding potential safety issues. In a letter dated May 8, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reminded the company of an open investigation of collisions involving vehicles using the FSD Unsupervised system. As such, the agency requested more information about how the technology will handle various driving situations, specifically reduced visibility due to fog, dust, sun glare, rain, and snow.

The next cities getting robotaxis are Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to Musk. The billionaire predicts that at least 1 million self-driving vehicles will be in operation before the end of 2026. Owners of these Tesla EVs will be able to earn some money by adding them to the robotaxi network.