Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s go big or go home plans for a future robotaxi service have been the talk of federal safety regulators’ nightmares. Therefore, they’ve opened a formal investigation. The investigation targets the company’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software. This software is already in use in some industries and has recently passed over 1,500 completed trips, totaling over 15,000 miles.
The probe comes as federal regulators ramp up scrutiny of Tesla’s automated driving technologies. They are interested in how these systems continue to perform in low-visibility conditions. Tesla’s prospective robotaxi service, which would use an automated driving system, could work like Tesla’s current Full Self-Driving Supervised service. Currently, this ride-hailing service is live in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, although it is only accessible to a select group of Tesla employees.
Federal regulators have issued an unprecedented set of questions to Tesla about its planned robotaxi service. The emphasis of these questions lies in determining whether the automated driving systems in the robotaxis align with those employed in the FSD Supervised service. Regulators will be closely scrutinizing Tesla’s broader plans to ensure its vehicles are safe in complicated roadway settings. They will first hone in on use cases with sun glare, fog, dust, rain and snow.
In a recent earnings statement Tesla touted its advances rolling out the FSD Supervised ride-hailing service.
“FSD Supervised ride-hailing service is live for an early set of employees in Austin & San Francisco Bay Area. We’ve completed over 1.5k trips & 15k miles of driving. This service helps us develop & validate FSD networks, the mobile app, vehicle allocation, mission control & remote assistance operations.” – source
The letter from federal regulators indicates a broader concern regarding Tesla’s commitment to assessing its vehicles and driving automation technologies for public road use. As Tesla continues to advance its robotaxi initiative, it will need to answer these regulatory questions to operate in compliance with the law and in a safe manner.
Leave a Reply