Tesla (TSLA, Financial) is broadening its autonomous ride-hailing service testing to employees in Austin, Texas, as it prepares to launch its driverless taxi service. The electric vehicle giant shared a video on social media showcasing a user summoning a Tesla through a smartphone app. The video depicted a driver seated in the front with multiple passengers in the back.
The company announced that it is testing its Full Self-Driving (FSD) ride-hailing service with select employees in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area. Tesla reports having completed over 1,500 trips and 15,000 miles of driving, which has aided in the development and validation of the FSD network, mobile app, and vehicle dispatch processes.
CEO Elon Musk commented on the video, indicating the company is readying for unsupervised autonomous driving. Despite the name, the FSD system still requires driver oversight and is not fully autonomous. Each vehicle is equipped with a safety driver to intervene if necessary.
Tesla plans to introduce the Robotaxi service this year under remote supervision, initially using 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles in Austin before scaling up and expanding to other cities and models.
