Tesla announced the launch of a robotaxi service on its official X social network account. Residents of Austin, Texas, can already use the service, but the project still has significant limitations.
The driverless taxi service will operate only in certain areas of Austin during a certain time period – from 06:00 to 00:00 daily. The taxi fleet currently includes only about 20 cars, and these are not the advertised Cybercab, but good old Model Y with some factory modifications. Tesla has released a special mobile application for calling a robotaxi.
As a safety measure, a company employee will be present in the cabin. If necessary, he will be able to stop the car manually. It is noted that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is still studying Tesla’s answers to questionnaires related to robotaxi safety.
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Meanwhile, the state of Texas recently passed its own law requiring all self-driving taxi operators to obtain a permit to operate autonomous vehicles. The law goes into effect on September 1 and allows for self-driving cars with at least Level 4 autonomy, while Tesla’s “Autopilot” is currently classified as a Level 2 system. To get around the restriction, Tesla’s robotaxis will be supported by a team of operators who can remotely pilot the electric car.
To date, only Google Waymo has been able to confirm Level 4 autonomy in the US, and it is already driving on the streets of Phoenix (Arizona), Los Angeles (California), San Francisco (California), and Austin (Texas). By the end of 2025, Waymo will be available in 10 more US cities.