The future is en route to our doorstep, and it's being delivered by Tesla. The electric automaker has been pressing forward with its plans to create a network of driverless robotaxis, a concept generally reserved for science fiction until recently.
According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, sci-fi will become a reality in June, Not a Tesla App reported. While Waymo (owned by Google parent company Alphabet Inc.) has already rolled out autonomous driving taxis in San Francisco and a few other cities, and China has also been introducing driverless taxis, Tesla's robotaxis haven't quite gotten off the ground.
The Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features have been available to Tesla owners in some form or another for a few years now. The FSD function mostly takes over from the human driver and navigates them to their destination through traffic, stoplights, lane changes, and more.
However, this version of FSD — or what's known as "supervised" FSD — still requires the driver to remain attentive, engaged, and ready to swiftly take the wheel. To create its fleet of driverless robotaxis, Tesla will need to employ unsupervised FSD.
Unsupervised FSD takes the function to another level. It must safely navigate roads, react to traffic, and even self-park without human intervention. The potential risks are tremendous, which means the safety requirements are sky-high, too.
Tesla has been fine-tuning unsupervised FSD for a while now, and it seems it is finally ready to unveil its work. At an earnings call in January, Musk announced the company's intent to launch its driverless robotaxis in Austin, Texas, come June, according to Car and Driver.
The news outlet reported that the robotaxis will initially consist of Tesla's internal fleet of vehicles, meaning Model Ys and Model 3s, but not the Cybercab announced last October. Eventually, the plan is for unsupervised FSD software to become available to all Tesla owners. From there, the option would be available to rent out your own vehicle as a driverless taxi.
Tesla is currently seeking a series of permits in California that will allow it to run an autonomous taxi service in the state. Regulations will vary from state to state, making it hard to predict how operations might expand, though considering the sales and stock troubles Tesla has had in recent months, the project is perhaps one of the clearer ways the company could rebuild a steady stream of vehicle sales without relying as much on public sentiment.
This development is an amazing one, and it's not the only or the first of its kind, either. However, should this robotaxi concept prove successful, it may benefit both people and the planet. With a safe means of driverless EV transportation, fewer accidents may occur, and harmful heat-trapping pollution will undoubtedly be reduced as EVs replace fuel-burning vehicles.
There will certainly be some risks involved. After all, FSD has not yet been perfected. However, in time, this may be revolutionary in making roads safer, cabs cheaper, and the planet healthier if it were all to come together as planned.
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