- The Tesla Robotaxi service is now operational in select parts of Austin, Texas for a flat fare of $4.20 per ride.
- As of now, the driverless Model Ys are only available to Tesla fans and influencers who get individual invites from the company.
- It’s unclear when it will be available for the general public. But here’s what the first group of riders observed from the very first rides.
Tesla’s carefully choreographed Robotaxi rollout in Austin on Sunday gave us the first glimpse of what the driverless cab service looks like, thanks to dozens of videos posted by the fans and influencers who were invited to the event.
Model Ys with “robotaxi” emblazoned on the front and the sides were seen picking up paying passengers—for a flat $4.20 per ride—for the first time ever in select parts of Austin, with nobody in the driver’s seat. Each car had a Tesla employee monitoring from the passenger’s seat.
According to the several videos posted online by the riders, the rides appear to have gone mostly smoothly, but here are some key takeaways from the rollout.
Passengers download the Robotaxi app and then use that to order a ride. According to Tesla investor Sawyer Meritt, Tesla owners’ accounts on the cloud get auto-synced with rear screen of the Robotaxi. So their music, apps and even seat settings are ready when passengers hop in.
The front windshield wipers appear to have a special camera-cleaning function, according to a video posted by FSD beta tester DirtyTesla. Instead of wiping the entire windshield, the wipers repeatedly scrub a small section right over the forward-facing camera, almost as if scrubbing a lens clean. It’s a focused motion designed specifically to keep the camera clear, not the whole windshield.
The Robotaxis rely on cameras and artificial intelligence to scan the environment around before executing active driving decisions, which is why keeping the cameras—or the “eyes” of the vehicle—clean is necessary.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing. Tesla investor Cole Grinde posted a video showing the robotaxi erratically swerving into the oncoming lane, which was thankfully empty, before correcting itself. The Model Y briefly flashed its turn signals and appeared to attempt a left turn, only to continue straight as the steering wheel spun left and right in a seemingly confused motion.
In another instance, one rider caught it exceeding the posted speed limit and viewers online spotted a Tesla employee riding shotgun intervening in some situations with what appeared to be some kind of a button on the passenger’s side door handle. The exact functionality of that button was unclear at the time of writing.
In at least two other instances, it appears to have done what was expected out of it. It pulled over to let an ambulance pass and safely stopped in time when a pedestrian randomly dawdled onto the road out of nowhere.
It’s a “culmination of a decade of hard work,” CEO Elon Musk said in a post on his social media platform X.
Tesla’s approach to product launches is different. While most automakers invite journalists to media events, Tesla has long leaned on its loyal fans and investors to spread the word, which why these social videos is all we have for now to get a clue of the Robotaxi’s performance.
The company did invite media for the Cybertruck debut, but typically, its hype engine runs on enthusiasm from Musk’s fans on X.
That said, the hurdles for the Robotaxi rollout are all but over. Texas, even though it has turned out to be a testbed for autonomous vehicle testing, has made its rules for AVs stricter. A new set of laws will be effective Sept. 1 onwards requiring robotaxi companies to provide additional information and assurances to the state government in the interest of public safety.
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