Passionategeekz On June 23, after many delays, Tesla’s Robotaxi driverless online ride-hailing service was finally launched in Austin, Texas, USA, and welcomed the first batch of users to experience it. These Tesla fans and early experiencers seem to give more positive comments on this Robotaxi trip.
Currently, Tesla’s Robotaxi service only operates in a limited area at the southern end of Austin, which is approximately 30 square miles (Passionategeekz Note: approximately 77.7 square kilometers), slightly smaller than Waymo’s operations in Austin and does not cover downtown areas north of the Austin River, while Waymo’s services include downtown. The operation time of this Robotaxi service is a limited time period and is not applicable to severe weather. There is no driver in the car, but a “safety supervisor” is provided to sit in the passenger seat and a remote operator is equipped as a backup to ensure safety.
Currently, the Robotaxi application only accepts invitations to register. The first batch of invited users are mainly about 20 Tesla fans who have received invitations to a standalone Robotaxi application installed through Apple’s TestFlight test platform. These users can take one companion to experience it, but each trip is limited to two passengers. When passengers place an order in the service area, the system will send a car to pick it up. If the destination is beyond service, the application attempts to deliver the passenger to the edge of the service area and inform the passenger of the distance to the final destination.
According to photos released by Ashok Elliswamy, head of Tesla’s autonomous driving/AI department, the Tesla team monitored the launch of the Robotaxi in a “war room”. As of the time of posting, the system has completed 112 trips, with a cumulative mileage of 499 miles (about 803.06 kilometers), with an average trip of about 4 miles (about 6.44 kilometers) per trip (which matches the size of the service area). In addition, an unrecognizable number “35” appears in the photo. If this is the number of operating vehicles, the actual number will be much higher than the previously estimated 10 vehicles. However, some safety supervisors refused to answer when asked about the number of vehicles they operated.
Judging from the current situation, these statistics may include Robotaxi’s operational data before its official launch at noon, as there are only about 20 invitees, and it is hard to imagine completing 112 trips in 15 minutes. So either the number of operating vehicles or invitees is greater than we know, or the riding data of employees is also included, or the starting point of the data is not zero, and so on.
The longest experience video you can find so far is Chuck Cook’s tweet about his first Robotaxi ride (32 minutes). Cook is well-known in this area because he often uses this scenario to test new versions of FSD and release test results. His video currently looks like the most complete trip record.
When the passenger’s vehicle arrives, a Tesla Model Y is seen, with no one in the driver’s seat (but there is someone in the passenger’s seat, at least for the moment), and the outside lights of the vehicle are flashing to indicate that this is the passenger’s vehicle. Unlike Waymo, there is no unique logo on the outside of Tesla’s vehicle to distinguish different vehicles, but this shouldn’t be a problem as there are fewer vehicles currently operating (Waymo’s vehicles can light up signs with different colors and the initials of the orderer’s name).
When passengers enter the car, if they have registered with their Tesla account in the app, many settings will be found to be consistent with their own Tesla vehicle experience. Many passengers pointed out that the music they listened to in their cars continued to play after entering Robotaxi.
The screen inside the car operates similarly to Tesla vehicles, but the Model Y’s rear screen has some interface differences for Robotaxi. For example, there is a “Support” button that passengers can press to contact remote help, similar to what Waymo does. However, the response time of the support button is inconsistent, with some passengers being able to get an immediate response, while others need to wait nearly a minute.
“Safety Supervisors” sitting in the passenger seat can use buttons to get the vehicle to pull over or in the driveway, but they cannot access actual driving controls such as the steering wheel or pedal. Passengers are also unable to operate the front screen to see if the vehicle can use Netflix and other functions during driving.
Tesla fans who released the video all have extensive experience in driving FSD vehicles, and this time the Robotaxi system seems to have similar capabilities, but may be different from the FSD version used by public vehicles.
The ride this time seems to be relatively stable, and may even be smoother than some FSD versions. While delivering the Cook to Starbucks, the vehicle encountered a human driver parked in the middle of the parking lot. After a brief hesitation, the vehicle decided to turn and reverse into a parking space in order to get the Cook out.
When the passenger gets off, a button is provided in the car to open the trunk (if the passenger has used it) and instructions on how to open the door. Tesla owners know that first-time passengers often have difficulty finding the location of the door button inside the car, so these instructions are very useful.
Finally, after the trip, passengers have the opportunity to evaluate the ride experience and even “reward”, but it is not a real reward.
Most of the passengers participating in the experience were Tesla fans and/or investors, which may make them less willing to criticize the company, but on the other hand it also means they have a good understanding of the current capabilities and limitations of the Tesla system. The overall feeling we get from them is positive, and they frequently mention the word “stable”.
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