With the rising popularity of automated driving, it was only a matter of time before Tesla itself released a fleet of driverless taxis, considering that the company has been known for its Autopilot and FSD features. However, not even being the leading EV manufacturer can get Tesla to do anything on time.
Tesla Delays Its Robotaxi Reveal
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has always been ambitious when it comes to the innovation of Tesla products. The company hit the mark with the older EV models, but progress for other products has been either falling behind or delayed.
The Cybertruck, for instance, had its release date pushed back several times before buyers finally got their units. Its humanoid robot Optimus was unveiled in 2022, but other companies managed to develop a more advanced product even if Tesla had a head start.
With that said, it no longer came as a surprise that the promised robotaxi fleet that was set to be revealed on August 8th will be pushed to a later date. Instead, Tesla's take on driverless taxis will be unveiled in October, as reported by The Verge.
Reports say that the delay was for Tesla's engineering team to have more time to build and test prototypes. While the news has already been broken to employees, the company or Elon Musk has yet to officially announce the delay.
The push for driverless taxis makes sense if Musk's vision for Tesla is to be followed, wherein he said that it was not simply a traditional car company but an AI and robotics company. He expressed that valuing Tesla as just an auto company is "just the wrong framework."
There is an issue that the company has yet to address. For one, its driverless features such as the Autopilot and the Full Self-Driving still require drivers to have their hands on the steering wheel in case of an emergency or if they need to make a quick turn.
It's unclear how Tesla will apply FSD to vehicles that are designed to not have drivers behind them at all. The company can't afford to make any major mistakes considering that regulators are keeping a close eye on driverless taxis.
Robotaxis Have Been Criticized Heavily
The robotaxi industry is still in rough shape even if it has seen many successful rides. In some cases, the bad outweighs the good because of the severity of the incidents, such as Cruise's unfortunately vehicular accident that led to the hospitalization of a civilian.
There have also been several disruptive incidents that caused heavy traffic and delays, with some even hitting parked cars. In early February, a Waymo robotaxi hit a cyclist causing minor injuries and led to the state's auto regulator conducting a review.
As per Reuters, the cyclist was obscured by a truck it was following and took a turn to the robtaxi's path. The taxi managed to detect the cyclist and brake heavily, but it wasn't early enough to avoid a collision with its rider, the company explained.
