Are autonomous Teslas ready as early as this summer?
This page is translated from the original post "Les Tesla autonomes prêtes dès cet été ?" in French.
- 01/02/2025 9:31
Tesla plans to launch a self-driving taxi service in Austin, Texas, as early as June, with driverless vehicles on board.
This project marks a key milestone in Tesla’s ambition to deploy driverless vehicles on public roads within two years. As part of this Texan experiment, vehicles, owned exclusively by Tesla, will operate without anyone on board and will be available for paid rides. This initiative does not yet allow Tesla owners to add their personal vehicles to the network, despite Elon Musk’s earlier promises of an autonomous carpooling “Tesla Network.”
During the recent earnings presentation, Musk expressed his confidence in the project, stating that the launch was imminent. He nevertheless emphasized the importance of ensuring public and user safety before moving to an expansion phase. Current tests include 2-kilometer routes on private roads, without human intervention, at Tesla’s facilities in Texas. The company is also conducting trials in California, with safety drivers ready to intervene in case of issues, but it is not yet authorized to operate a commercial autonomous service in that state.
A very limited risk-taking
Tesla claims that its supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) system is a step towards full autonomy, but advises drivers to remain alert, as the system does not yet make the vehicles autonomous. In January, Tesla recorded nearly 5 billion kilometers driven with this system, while increasing the AI’s computing capacity by 400% in 2024. However, criticisms persist regarding the effectiveness of FSD, particularly its struggles with conditions such as glare or wet roads. Accidents, some fatal, involving drivers using this system have also been reported.
At the same time, Tesla distinguishes itself from other players in the industry by using only cameras for perception, without resorting to LIDAR as redundancy. Despite selective safety statistics and a history of unmet deadlines, Musk remains confident in the expansion of FSD across the United States by the end of 2025.
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