Elon Musk’s Tesla Robotaxi Rollout Looks Like A Disaster Waiting To Happen

Forbes

Ready or not–and despite a spotty safety record–the EV maker is racing to launch a pilot ride service in Austin to show off its self-driving chops.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/05/16/elon-musks-tesla-robotaxi-rollout-looks-like-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Elon Musk's Tesla Robotaxi rollout looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

00:08Elon Musk is rolling out a handful of Tesla Robotaxis in Austin next month,

00:13where up to 20 self-driving electric Model Ys will be unleashed to ferry passengers around

00:18the Texas city streets. He's betting the future of Tesla on their success,

00:23as the automaker's electric vehicle revenue tanks thanks to faster-growing Chinese rivals

00:28and a political backlash against Musk's right-wing politics and role as job slasher-in-chief

00:33for the Trump administration. But there's a big hitch. Tesla hasn't proven its self-driving

00:39taxis are safe enough to start delivering rides. Given its misleadingly named autopilot and full

00:46self-driving software's deadly track record, Musk's failure to provide detailed safety and

00:51technical data about Tesla's technology, and his determination to rely on cheap cameras instead

00:57of more robust sensors to navigate complicated urban environments, the Austin rollout could be a

01:03debacle. Dan O'Dowd, a longtime critic of Musk's autonomous driving claims, who spent his own money

01:10on Super Bowl commercials to call out autopilot and full self-driving, or FSD, safety flaws, told Forbes,

01:17quote, it's going to fail for sure. His anti-Tesla initiative, the Dawn Project, tests every update of FSD,

01:27a more advanced version of which is powering Musk's robo-taxis in Austin, as soon as they're available.

01:33That update is to roll out to all Tesla drivers who pay a $99 monthly subscription fee.

01:40O'Dowd has been putting the current version of FSD through its paces.

01:43O'Dowd, whose company Green Hills Software supplies security tech to defense and aerospace industry

01:50customers, said, quote, We drove it around Santa Barbara for 80 minutes, and there were seven

01:55failures. If there had not been a driver sitting in the driver's seat, it would have hit something.

02:01While the company hasn't booked a dollar of robo-taxi revenue, that hasn't stopped the

02:06world's wealthiest person from declaring victory. On the company's April 22nd results call, Musk said,

02:12quote, I don't see anyone being able to compete with Tesla at present.

02:18His assessment may be premature. The sole demonstration of Tesla's robo-taxi chops

02:23was staged drives of its new so-called cybercab at Warner Brothers Studio in Los Angeles last October.

02:31The event included hauling invited Tesla fans around a fake cityscape, free of pedestrians,

02:36but with lots of Tesla technicians keeping close tabs on vehicles. It struck safety researcher Noah

02:42Goodall, who published a technical analysis of Tesla's safety data, independently from his role

02:47with the Virginia Department of Transportation, as more amusement park attraction than real-world

02:52test. Goodall said, quote, It was just operating vehicles on a closed track on a movie lot. It was not

02:59impressive at all. Navigating a real urban environment with uncertainty, other parties

03:04moving around, situations where just braking is not enough, that's difficult. I was looking for a

03:10signal this was ready. I didn't get that. In the decades since Tesla began selling customers its

03:17autopilot and FSD features, for which it currently charges $8,000, the software has been linked to

03:23several fatal accidents where human drivers trusted the tech to drive their car, only for it to crash.

03:29The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened multiple probes of Tesla's autopilot

03:35feature since 2016, including one last year to determine if it needed additional safety features

03:40after linking autopilot to those 13 deaths. Last October, the National Highway Traffic Safety

03:47Administration also began investigating problems with FSD linked to two fatalities. Despite the names,

03:54this software has always been designed to have a human behind the wheel. For the past

03:59decade, Musk has repeatedly claimed, quote, full autonomy, where a car can drive without human

04:04assistance, was only months or a year away, repeatedly missing his targets. Now, with Tesla's EV sales

04:12down 13% in the first quarter, the company needs some buzz to reassure investors CEO Musk can turn things

04:19around. Robo-taxis, as well as AI and humanoid robots, are exactly that, according to Musk. So it's running

04:27extensive tests in downtown Austin. But a recent Business Insider story citing interviews with former

04:33Tesla test drivers doesn't inspire confidence. One former worker said that the program, quote,

04:39feels very forced. It's this breakthrough moment for Tesla, but there is also this feeling of so many

04:44last-minute details being up in the air. For full coverage, check out Alan Owensman's piece

04:50on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

Category

Transcript

Recommended