Earlier this year, Musk told investors that Tesla will launch autonomous driving technology in Austin and California this year, and launched the Robotaxi service in Texas City in June. (The service is scheduled to be launched using Model Y’s instead of the network library.) Tesla has since obtained a license to operate a driver’s taxi service in California, and although it is necessary to apply for and win more licenses, it can apply for the service without the steering wheel. It has held talks with the city of Palo Alto, where it will eventually provide a ride. (As a result of less stringent regulations in Texas, automakers do not need additional licenses or government signatures to conduct driverless services in Austin.)
The success of the online car will be in production in 2026, which is especially important, as Tesla does not seem to have many other automotive projects. Last year, a long-awaited cheaper electric car was downgraded to a Tesla’s popular model Y instead of a modified but cheaper version of the brand new car. Last week, Reuters reported that more affordable vehicles were delayed for at least a few months.
The Robotaxi service has put Tesla in direct competition with Google Sister Company Waymo, which has operated paid self-driving taxi services in Phoenix and San Francisco for nearly two years. (Waymo also operates in Los Angeles and Austin, with launches in Atlanta and Miami in the coming months.) Amazon’s Zoox is also ready to launch services in Las Vegas and later in San Francisco.
Both Waymo and Zoox use self-driving methods that take more measurements than Tesla, and over the years, supervised drivers on the steering wheel have been tested to monitor technology. Tesla’s “full self-driving” feature receives additional fees on all of its U.S. cars, but the company warns that drivers still have to be mindful of roads when using their technology. Nevertheless, the company stressed that it will develop from this less advanced “Level 2” autonomy to comprehensive unsupervised driving.
Technologists have expressed doubts about Tesla’s ambitious timeline. Bryan Reimer, a research scientist at MIT, said the high level of safety and reliability required for autonomous vehicle services should be noted, leading the alliance of advanced vehicle technology, which brings together industry experts and scholars to study how people interact with autonomous driving capabilities. “I think the world is thinking, can Tesla do this?” Remo said. “My answer is, yes, they can do some demos with the safety driver.”
Tesla Robotaxi services also require a lot of work, even the complex technology required to make cars run. “You don’t realize all the other things they do for you until you actually pull out the safety driver: answer questions for passengers, help them browse the entire system, [navigating] Jeff Schneider, a robotics researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, worked for Uber’s autonomous driving program.
Tesla wrote on the slide deck for investors that it is expected to be affected by uncertainties related to “evolving trade policies”, which the company said could impact Tesla’s global supply chain and its spending on building products. “This dynamic, along with changing political sentiment, may have a meaningful impact on the demand for our products in the near future,” the deck said.
Musk told investors that Tesla remains the “smallest affected” car company in terms of tariffs, as the company’s car inventory is mostly made and assembled in the United States. “This puts us in a better position than many of our competitors,” he said. Musk said he will continue to talk to the president about tariff policies. “I will continue to advocate for lower tariffs, not higher tariffs, but that’s all I can do,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please come back as soon as possible to check the update.
