Even with all the red tape and backlash that the robotaxi industry is taking, Tesla is still determined to release its own fleet of automated ride-hailing vehicles, and the short video posted on X might've just given us a sneak peek of what the interior will look like.
Potential Tesla Robotaxi Interior
The video is two minutes and 21 seconds long, but it effectively shows the progress that Tesla has made in both its vehicle and robotics divisions. At the beginning of the clip, you'll see flashes of random shots of both its Optimus robot and various vehicle models.
It's so fast that you might not have caught a small detail, which is a Tesla employee showing another person what looks like the exterior of a vehicle, which is unlike anything that the EV giant has released before. It led people to believe that it might just be for the robotaxi.
Tesla has been working on its robotaxi concept for years, so it's not that far-fetched that the company already has models drafted to see what the vehicle could look like. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the automated vehicle will not have a steering wheel or pedals.
It was also mentioned that it would appear somewhat similar to the Cybertruck, and the design concept we caught a glimpse of matches those descriptions, even if they are just seats and what looks to be a dashboard with an attached screen.
As for the seats, they don't look like your typical car seats. They resemble the build of seats you find in public transit like trains, as pointed out by Electrek. That means that the comfort it offers is simply for sitting and not for driving.
If so, then the release of Tesla's robotaxi might be sooner than we think, and it will likely rival the already-existing companies like Waymo and Cruise, which are already operational now. However, that also means that Tesla might catch the same criticism thrown at the two robotaxi companies.
We have put forward two especially important proposals for our Annual Meeting of Stockholders—and we need your vote.
— Tesla (@Tesla) May 20, 2024
Protect your rights as stockholders & protect the value of your investment by voting FOR the ratification of the 2018 CEO Performance Award & FOR Reincorporating… pic.twitter.com/ONmB7oZfyM
A Robotaxi Business Can Be Tricky
The automated ride-hailing business is still imperfect at this point, and companies like Cruise and Waymo still need a few tweaks before their vehicles can operate flawlessly. More eyes are on AVs now that there have already been several incidents caused by its fleets.
Waymo taxis once blocked traffic for about 30 minutes on a San Francisco Highway 101 on-ramp, wherein it moved out of a road closure only to be blocked by cones. The first Waymo vehicle was then followed by six more robotaxis.
The company immediately sent out its Roadside Assistance team and manually drove the vehicles out of the way, as reported by Tech Crunch. Still, it's a relatively minor incident compared to the other cases caused by Cruise.
For instance, a Cruise robotaxi reportedly dragged a pedestrian for 20 feet, and that was after she was hit by a human driver. The civilian was said to be thrown into the robotaxi's path and the vehicle failed to halt immediately.
