We see a video of a Tesla driving people around in San Francisco without human intervention. This is how a robotaxi will work.
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Tesla Robotaxi: Ride Sharing in San Francisco
Tesla FSD Beta was put to the test recently and the software was used to pick up and drive some passengers. These passengers will pick the start and stop location, and this is done in the city of San Francisco.
A pickup destination was chosen in the ride-sharing app, and the car left its spot on the side of the street to go pickup the passengers. As the car was driving, it saw a driverless Waymo car. Omar was sitting in the driver's seat supervising, but not touching any controls.
You can imagine this is how ride-sharing works. You have a parked Tesla, and it gets a notification to go out and make some money for its owner. The car receives a pickup spot and drives to go get them.
The Tesla Model 3 performance did a smooth drive to go pickup the passengers, without any intervention. The car arrived at the pickup spot and was unlocked. You could see the passengers walking toward the car and entering it.
There were two passengers, and the first thing they said is that they have never been in a Tesla before.
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When Will Robotaxi Happen?
After they got in, the Tesla immediately began driving to the destination. One of the passengers asked if it was one of those driverless cars, and Omar answered that it was. He was being asked if he was pressing any buttons, and he said no, he was just supervising it.
The Tesla is able to drive itself with just cameras around the car and software and hardware that runs the system. Omar mentioned that he saw another driverless car without a driver.
You can call ride-sharing vehicles without a driver right now in very select areas with Cruise and Waymo. A Tesla is not considered autonomous yet and must have a driver in the car who is paying attention.
Omar was asked if it knows what speed to go. The Tesla can read the speed limit signs to know what speed to go. The Tesla can also change lanes while you are driving. Omar is driving a Tesla Model 3 Performance.
Ride-sharing is great for San Francisco because the distances are so small, and you probably won't have to charge the vehicle at all during the day. When you drive on the freeway, the battery takes more Energy to use.
Omar was asked if the Tesla read the license plate of other cars, and he said no, the software is visualizing objects and things around. He mentioned he was in full control and can take control at any time.
The car drove without any interventions around the busy streets of San Francisco, stopping at stop lights and stop signs, and waiting for pedestrians and other cars when needed. We've seen a true example of what ride-sharing is going to look like, and I think we'll see a Tesla Robotaxi on the streets of San Francisco much sooner than later.
What did you think of this ride-sharing video? Is a Robotaxi going to happen soon?
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Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News.
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