Tesla's Robotaxi Promises Are Clashing with Reality
Tesla's robotaxi program faces challenges as mileage remains flat, vehicle numbers are low, and safety questions persist, despite CEO Elon Musk's optimistic statements.
During an earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk attempted to paint a positive picture of the company's robotaxi program, but his usual bullishness was tempered. Musk said the company is expanding to new cities, miles driven are increasing, and more people are experiencing Tesla's unsupervised vehicles. However, the program's reality tells a different story: mileage is essentially flat, the number of vehicles appears to be shrinking, and the safety of the technology remains an open question.
Tesla's head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, claimed that unsupervised robotaxis have driven 380,000 miles across six cities in two states, growing at 10% per week. But competitor Waymo, which uses lidar sensors, typically drives about 4 million miles per week. Tesla's total mileage is less than 10% of that figure.
According to the crowdsourced Robotaxi Tracker, Tesla currently has only 16 unsupervised vehicles in Austin, four in Dallas, and one in Houston. Elluswamy explained that the company is expanding across multiple cities rather than focusing on one to prove its stack's generality.
State regulations pose additional hurdles. New Jersey is considering a bill that would essentially ban robotaxis without multiple sensors like radar and lidar. Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering, Lars Morvay, called this "a little bit disheartening."
Safety is another obstacle. According to the Robotaxi Tracker, Tesla's fleet has been involved in approximately 18 incidents, 56% of which were the fault of another driver. Tesla's Full Self-Driving system is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with potential for a future recall. The company asks investors and customers to look past these shortcomings, but reality continues to contradict Musk's promises.
