Shock Horror, Tesla's Robotaxis Suck

But why do they suck so badly?

Tesla Robotaxi — Tesla

To say that Tesla’s future is dependent on robotaxis is a bit of an understatement. Tesla has to completely decimate this industry or be left hung out to dry. They have almost entirely stopped investing in and developing new EVs or EV technology, allowing their competition to run away with the market so they can focus on robotaxis. The hypothetical opportunity of this new industry is what has driven Tesla’s stock price to such extensive heights. However, if Tesla cannot meet these lofty expectations, it will be valued exclusively as a car manufacturer, and its value will be dwarfed by its debts, plunging it into the red. This really is sink or swim for Tesla. Yet, after a decade of development, Tesla’s robotaxis utterly suck.

Tesla “soft-launched” its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, June 22. However, rather than the promised Cybercabs, we received 12 unmodified Model Ys with ”Robotaxi” scrawled on the side. The service was also invite-only, with only people directly involved with Tesla getting a ride. Additionally, they weren’t alone in the car, as a safety driver is always required in the passenger seat, ready to take over at a moment’s notice.

Yet, even with this puny number of vehicles, a light sprinkle of customers, and a dedicated safety driver on board, over the span of just two days, these robotaxis have been recorded driving illegally and erratically.

These videos have shown robotaxis braking randomly and abruptly as they pass a police car (guilty much?); speeding; randomly jerking their steering wheel; and even swerving into oncoming traffic and driving there for an extended period! The fact that so many concerning videos have come to light in such a short period of time has prompted the NHTSA to contact Tesla directly.

But this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. These Robotaxis are more than likely running FSD v13. 8,000 miles of crowdsourced data have shown that FSD v13 averages 493 miles between critical disengagements, which means its actual intervention intervals are likely shorter than that.

Let’s assume these 12 Model Y Robotaxis are using their full 230-mile real-world range every day. If you crunch the numbers, that means this fleet would have statistically experienced 12 critical incidents where the safety driver should have intervened between the launch of the service and the time these videos were uploaded.

So, why didn’t the safety driver intervene? Why was the car allowed to drive so erratically?

Simple: these safety drivers are a dangerous marketing stunt.