Robotaxis are closer to becoming a reality, as Tesla launched a supervised self-direction (FSD) supervised service supervised in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco Bay area “for an early group of employees.”
The announcement was made Wednesday to X.
“We’ve finished over 1.5k traves and 15K miles of driving,” the posting of social media said. “This service helps us develop and validate FSD networks, mobile app, vehicle separation, mission control and distance aid operations.”
The US electric vehicle manufacturer is committed to starting the service in Austin until June, Reuters reports.
Ceo Elon Musk promised during the last call of Tesla profits that autonomous vehicles would “move the financial needle in an important way” by the end of next year.
In Tuesday’s call, Musk said Tesla will first use existing Model Y vehicles equipped with self-driving software. The automaker is also developing a dedicated autonomous model, called Cybercab, with the production that begins next year.
Musk said he expects autonomous management technology to begin to “affect the bottom of the company and begin to be basic” by the second half of 2026.
“I predict there will be millions of Teslas who act autonomously in the second half of next year,” he said.
While fighting its main automotive business, with vehicle sales down 13% in the first quarter, expectations are high for Tesla to prove that it can overcome autonomic driving technological barriers and demonstrate a healthy business model for car services.
Most Bullish investors and analysts connect most of Tesla’s shares with its plans for a mass robotax and an autonomous subscription business.
Investors and analysts in the coming months will look for concrete signs that Tesla can escalate the Robotaxi business and navigate technical challenges.
Blake Anderson, Associate Portfolio Manager at Carson Group, an investor Tesla, said in the coming months that he wants to see specifics such as Tesla will charge for miles to Austin, and whether this could be profitable. He also wants more details on Tesla’s security record and how often her Austin vehicles have to break away from the autonomous way of driving.
“Safety is the thing they control the most, so I want evidence that what they do control is ironed,” Anderson said, according to Reuters. “Then I have a much greater view of looking at national participation.”
Others are less convinced by Musk’s prediction that the robotaxis will play a material role in profits up to the second half of next year. Musk on Tuesday’s call said that the release of Austin Robotaxi would begin with 10 or 20 Model vehicles, and that Tesla would “scape it rapidly after that”, expanding to other US markets later during the year.
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