There have been many Tesla driving around the streets of Austin in recent years, but a Model Y driving around Texas with no one behind the wheel has never been seen before. This is not surprising, however, as everything has been planned according to Elon Musk’s blueprint.
To attract curious onlookers and the media, he unveiled the first driverless Tesla, with only a company engineer in the passenger seat. This is not a crazy stunt but a useful test ahead of the launch of Tesla’s robotaxis.
According to some US media reports, the debut is scheduled for mid-June, while Musk has said that the official launch will take place at the end of the month.
Cybercab, Tesla’s robotaxi
“For the past several days, Tesla has been testing self-driving Model Y cars (no one in the driver’s seat) on Austin public streets with no incidents. A month ahead of schedule. Next month, first self-delivery from factory to customer,” Musk wrote in a post on X. Beyond the date, what matters is the arrival of robotaxi is considered crucial for the short-term future of the company created by the South African entrepreneur himself. The goal is to gradually transform Tesla into a company that moves towards autonomous driving, with intensive use of artificial intelligence, already used for the development of some of the cars’ features.
Until now, tests have been carried out with Tesla personnel in the driver’s seat for safety reasons, so driverless testing is an important step towards the actual use of Cybercab, the company’s robotaxi. Currently only in operation in California on a few designated routes, Cybercab has greater freedom in Texas thanks to less restrictive state regulations governing the technology under development. By law, self-driving vehicles only need to have cameras and insurance coverage, as well as comply with traffic regulations.
With no steering wheel or pedals, Cybercab is a compact electric vehicle designed for autonomous driving using an advanced artificial intelligence system supported by cameras, sensors and neural networks. Equipped with upward-opening doors, it is recharged wirelessly using inductive charging and will be priced at over $30,000 when launched. Tesla plans to start production in 2026 after completing testing in Austin.
Kira: an interesting project in Germany
Thanks to the fame of its owner, Tesla is always in the news, but the American company is not the first to focus on robotaxis. In Europe and even more so in China, there are those who are already much further ahead in the development of technology and cars.
The KIRA project is the most interesting to come out of Europe because level 4 autonomous vehicles (cars capable of driving completely autonomously in specific, predefined conditions without the need for human intervention) are being tested in Langen and Egelsbach, two towns about 25 km from Frankfurt.
The result of a partnership between Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the Rhine-Main Transport Association, the German plan involves six Nio electric SUVs equipped with LiDAR sensors, cameras and Mobileye software. These are six-seater vehicles capable of reaching 130 km/h under predefined conditions, even if there is a human in the driver’s seat and every movement is supervised remotely from an operations centre.
The Chinese expansion
The situation is different for Chinese-made robotaxis, which are ready to launch in Europe after debuting in their home country. Four companies are at the forefront: Baidu, Pony.ai, WeRide and Momenta. With almost 10 million trips completed on the domestic market, Baidu is targeting Switzerland and Turkey to launch Apollo Go, its autonomous taxi service that aims to reshape urban travel.
WeRide has already begun its expansion, present in 10 countries and 30 cities, including France, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, while Pony.ai and Momenta have signed an agreement with Uber to offer robotaxis in Europe and the Middle East.
