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Title: TeslaΓÇÖs first Robotaxi rides kick off in Austin, Texas

Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2025 10:00:15 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/transportation/tesla...

The June 22 launch of Tesla's robotaxis in Austin, Texas, actually occurred.
It's a tentative first step for the company, however: a human "Tesla Safety
Monitor" is accompanying the first riders. There are also only ten cars and
rides are limited to certain Tesla users. Those early riders and influencers
have been sharing their experiences on social media, mostly (surprise) on X.

Most of the early riders appear to be pro-Tesla users, with a company mention
in their social media bio or a Tesla cap in their profile picture (or both),
so consider these initial reactions within that context. Having said that, an
autonomous car ride is... an autonomous car ride. Many livestreams show the
safety monitor gripping a handle on the right side of the passenger seat,
possibly with emergency controls. However, that hasn't yet been confirmed.
Many passengers attempted to talk with their safety monitors, with, er,
limited success.

Tesla RoboTaxi First Public Ride Livestream https://t.co/2KIm1TiieI

ΓÇö Bearded Tesla (@BeardedTesla) June 22, 2025

One user, Bearded Tesla Guy called the app ΓÇ£basically Uber.ΓÇ¥ Others found
it challenging to summon a Tesla car from the limited pool of rides, watching
multiple driverless Waymos pass them by as they waited. Austin is the place
for autonomous ride testing: Waymo is scaling up its service in partnership
with Uber, while AmazonΓÇÖs Zoox is also testing its tech in the area.

After verifying your identity with the human safety monitor, you initiate the
journey by pressing the ΓÇ£start rideΓÇ¥ button. Tesla has linked the service
to usersΓÇÖ existing profiles, allowing you to import your existing music
playlists, which is a nice touch. You can also adjust your temperature
settings, seat position and more from the companion app. Unlike a typical
Tesla, the robotaxi has buttons to ask the car to pull over or stop in lane.
ThereΓÇÖs also the option to call support if you encounter any issues with
your automated ride, although weΓÇÖd assume that a human safety monitor would
likely offer quicker assistance.

As the service kicked off, Tesla revealed a new robotaxi page, with all the
guidelines and rules for its Robotaxis. The company also has detailed FAQs
for using the service and a sign-up sheet for updates. Early access riders
are being charged a flat rate of $4.20 for their journeys.

Parameters are strict, on top of the limited pool of cars. Rides have to go
within a geofenced area that excludes airports and run between 6AM and
midnight. At this point, we know to take MuskΓÇÖs claims with a grain of
salt, but the Tesla boss says the company plans to grow its taxi fleet to a
thousand driverless cars on the road ΓÇ£within a few months.ΓÇ¥ Tesla has
also said it will operate its robotaxi network using an ΓÇ£unsupervisedΓÇ¥
version of its self-driving software.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/transportation/tesla...
in-austin-texas-100015076.html?src=rss

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