Elon Musk says Tesla will launch a paid autonomous transportation service as early as June in Austin, Texas. Unlike California, where regulations are strict, Texas takes a very permissive approach, requiring no prior approval for the operation of autonomous vehicles.
Unsupervised service, but at what price?
Tesla has long blamed its customers for accidents involving its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems. This time, with its driverless cab service, the legal responsibility will lie squarely with the company.
Musk has been promising fully autonomous vehicles for a decade without any concrete results. The announcement of this new service comes at a time when Tesla is experiencing a drop in sales and is seeking to reassure its investors. However, no information was given on the number of vehicles to be used, or regarding either customer access or terms of service.
Texas, an Eldorado for autonomous driving?
Unlike California, where Waymo and Cruise had to obtain permits and prove the reliability of their vehicles, Texas has no strict regulatory framework. Local law allows companies to deploy autonomous vehicles as long as they are insured and registered, with no state authority overseeing their operations.
Senator Kelly Hancock, who initiated the 2017 autonomous vehicle law, explained this hands-off approach:
“We wanted to avoid any barriers to innovation and let the market evolve freely.”
Concerns for public safety
Austin has seen an increase in autonomous vehicles in recent years, leading to some worrying incidents. In 2023, a fleet of Cruise robot cabs blocked a street near the University of Texas, causing traffic chaos. Law enforcement has recorded 78 complaints about the vehicles since July 2023, including road blockages and erratic behavior.
Austin City Councilmember Zo Qadri worries about the lack of local control over these vehicles:
“We have no power to regulate these companies that are using our roads as a testing ground.”
- Zo Qadri, Austin, Texas city council member
Tesla also plans to deploy an “unsupervised” version of its FSD system in California in 2025, but it has yet to seek the necessary approvals from the state's regulatory agencies.
Is Tesla’s schedule realistic?
Some experts doubt that Tesla can launch a large-scale robot cab service by June. Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor specializing in autonomous driving, believes Tesla could test its service in a small area of Austin, in favorable weather, with remote supervision to avoid accidents.
“Tesla is not going to simply enable a feature and make all its cars autonomous overnight.”