All articles tagged with #autonomous vehicles
Elon Musk admitted that Tesla's camera-only robotaxis struggle to detect pets at night, specifically citing the difficulty of seeing 'grey kittens on grey tarmac.' While Austin operating hours have been extended to 11 p.m., critics argue that Tesla's refusal to use LiDAR or radar leaves its vehicles vulnerable in low-light conditions, a concern highlighted by recent fatal crashes and regulatory scrutiny.
Tesla has rapidly expanded its driverless Cybercab fleet in Texas, reaching 169 authorized vehicles in Austin since its September 3 launch. While the company faces technical complaints and a federal safety audit, it is preparing to expand into Dallas and other states. Competitor Waymo maintains a significant lead in operational scale and public trust, with 4,000 active vehicles across 15 U.S. markets.
Tesla’s Austin robotaxi fleet briefly surged around the Cybercab launch, but in the past week active rides collapsed to eight vehicles, despite hundreds of registered VINs. Trackers showed a spike to over 100 on-road robots during launch week, followed by a rapid fall as influencers left. The gap between registered vehicles and actual operation underscores that the hype hasn’t translated into scalable autonomous ride-hailing, likely due to safety and deployment constraints.
The NHTSA has issued a Special Order demanding Tesla prove under oath that its Cybercab—lacking a steering wheel, pedals, mirrors, and other conventional controls—complies with federal safety standards written for human drivers. Tesla must respond by Sept. 30 or face penalties up to $139 million. The agency questions self-certification, notes that many FMVSS standards assume a human driver, and highlights issues such as FMVSS 135 (foot brakes) because the Cybercab has no foot-activated brake. NHTSA references its proposal to rewrite rules for automated vehicles and contrasts Tesla’s approach with Zoox’s exemption path, signaling that, until standards are updated, the Cybercab’s sale and operation may remain constrained.
A Business Insider tester rides a gold Tesla Cybercab in Austin, a steering-wheel-free robotaxi controlled by a large screen and app, noting its bold design and city-driving performance while flagging safety concerns, limited downtown scope, and long wait times as Tesla pushes a low-cost autonomous ride-hail future.
The NHTSA has launched an Audit Query into Tesla's Cybercab certification as the company rolls out its wheelless two-seater robotaxi in Austin, with regulators reviewing how about 1,000 Cybercabs were certified for U.S. roads. The vehicle relies on cameras and AI, bans riders under 13 and requires an adult for ages 13–17, has no LATCH anchors, and includes features like an emergency Stop button, mechanical door releases and brake-by-wire, while regulators seek more technical data to verify safety compliance amid broader autonomous-vehicle oversight.
JPMorgan projects roughly $320 billion in Tesla robotaxi revenue by 2035, with about $314 billion flowing to a Tesla-owned fleet rather than individual owner cars, reframing the opportunity as a capital-heavy mobility operator model. The note comes as Tesla reports Q2 2026 revenue of $28.24B with slim margins and negative free cash flow, highlighting the capital and regulatory risks needed to reach the upside.
A November 2025 solar storm triggered significant GPS errors—over 33 feet—in global navigation satellite systems, causing mid-latitude positioning disruptions that could affect self-driving cars and precision farming. Reported in Geophysical Research Letters and highlighted by Futurism and NASA, the event underscores the need for better space weather understanding and predictive modeling to safeguard GPS-dependent technologies.
Austin firefighters warn that Tesla’s touchscreen-only Cybercab lacks a steering wheel, meaning manual control hinges on power and the touchscreen, which could be unreliable in emergencies; gloves, dust, or damage could complicate operation, and they urge federal regulators to require physical steering controls rather than leaving the decision to automakers.
Tesla's Cybercab, a supervised autonomous taxi, has appeared on New York streets signaling a pilot with a driver in the front seat even though there’s no official NYC launch; regulators say state law requires a human driver and the TLC notes autonomous-for-hire testing isn’t allowed, with Waymo permits and taxi-union concerns shaping the broader regulatory debate.
Tesla shares rose about 2% after a company update signaled progress beyond EVs into autonomous ride-hailing, highlighting the Cybercab—a two-seat, pedalless vehicle built for robotaxi use in Austin—which could lower costs if fleets scale, though profitability depends on fleet growth, software performance, and utilization amid regulatory and competitive risks; the company also has humanoid robots as another growth bet.
Tesla's Cybercab—robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals—was spotted with a hidden on-screen joystick enabling manual driving, revealing a fallback control method Tesla has not publicly showcased. The interface splits the screen into a joystick and a live camera feed. This raises safety/regulatory questions as the NHTSA audits the vehicle's certification for driverless operation, while Tesla says real controls could be added if needed. The joystick is likely not a practical long-term solution, but it underscores the tension between full autonomy and human fallback options.
Travis Kalanick returns to the mobility scene with Atoms, a startup billed as an 'industrial AI' company that has raised about $1.7 billion and is aggressively hiring to build autonomous-vehicle tech led by Anthony Levandowski; Atoms has discussed using its software for Uber's rideshare network but says it’s not aiming to dominate the robotaxi market, instead pursuing AI and robotics across sectors like construction and mining with Uber as a partner and backers including Andreessen Horowitz and Saudi Arabia's PIF.
The NHTSA has launched an Audit Query into Tesla's Cybercab to verify compliance with current safety standards as the driverless two-seater with no steering wheel or pedals starts taking passengers in Texas and Florida; Tesla says it complies, but the investigation could require changes or penalties while regulators continue updating rules for autonomous vehicles and peers like Zoox pursue exemptions.
U.S. regulators opened an investigation into Tesla’s up-to-1,000 steer-wheel-free Cybercab robotaxis to verify proper certification under federal safety standards, triggering a nearly 6% drop in Tesla shares as the company starts limited deployments in Austin and faces scrutiny over how certification data was used.