Tesla launched its first self-driving taxi service in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, using Model Y SUVs due to the unavailability of its CyberCab robotic taxi service. This comes amidst the turmoil caused by its CEO Elon Musk's involvement in the Donald Trump administration.
Relations between the two men have recently witnessed a public rift, but the US president "needs Musk to stay close to the Republican Party, and Musk needs Trump... for several reasons, including support on federal regulations related to autonomous vehicles," according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
Ives notes that autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence are "a huge revenue generator" for Tesla, potentially increasing its valuation by "at least $1 trillion."
To achieve this, the vehicle manufacturer must successfully launch its anticipated robotaxi service in Austin.
According to Ives, who owns a Tesla, the service will be available between 6 a.m. and midnight, initially by invitation only, via a dedicated app, and within a limited area excluding airports.
Texas is a major testing ground for such services due to its flexible regulatory rules.
The Texas Department of Transportation explains that this "allows testing and service of autonomous vehicles on Texas roads as long as they meet the same safety and insurance requirements as other vehicles on the road."
According to its website, Austin has six companies operating autonomous vehicles on its streets: ADMT (Volkswagen), AVRide, Tesla, Zoox (Amazon) (in testing), Motional (Hyundai) (in the mapping phase), and Waymo (Alphabet/Google) (in deployment).
However, a law taking effect on September 1st tightens operating rules and requires, among other things, prior authorization and a plan for interacting with emergency services.
Several Democratic members of Congress in Texas sent a letter to Tesla on Wednesday asking it to delay the launch of the new service until after September 1st, or to demonstrate compliance with these new rules.
Elon Musk announced the launch of the service in June. It was expected to launch on the 12th, but two days ago, the billionaire postponed the date "initially to June 22nd."
He said, "We are very concerned about safety, so the date may change."
"We want to be very careful with the first rollout of unsupervised self-driving cars (from Tesla)," the world's richest man explained on CNBC on May 20th, explaining that only about 10 robotaxis would operate in the first week, before the number increases significantly "depending on how things progress."
He added, "We'll likely reach 1,000 (self-driving taxis) within a few months, and then expand to other cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Antonio," predicting "hundreds of thousands (of these cars) by the end of next year."
Elon Musk believes Tesla owners who pay for the Full Self-Driving (FSD) option—currently $99 per month, after an $8,000 deposit—can generate revenue by integrating their cars into the robotaxi service when they're not using them.
The service will operate on unmodified Model Y vehicles, "which means every Tesla we produce can operate without supervision," according to Musk.
This is pending the CyberCab, which is scheduled to begin production in 2026. This autonomous electric vehicle, unveiled in October, lacks a steering wheel and pedals.
Tesla is years behind Google's Waymo, which has been operating in several US cities since 2021.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating Tesla's Full Self-Driving system since October 2024 following fatal crashes.
In a move linked to the launch of the robotaxi, the agency requested information from the company in May "to understand the technologies and operational uses" of its autonomous vehicles.
The NHTSA told AFP that the legislation would not require it to "pre-approve new technologies or systems" for vehicles.
It explained that "manufacturers certify that each vehicle meets the agency's strict safety standards."
Haim Siegel, an analyst at Elazar Advisors, expressed doubts about the true degree of autonomy of the self-driving system, even noting that the robotaxi "will initially be remotely piloted."
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