Teslalaunches robotaxis in Austin, Texas at $4.20 a pop to start
After driverless Tesla Model Ys were spotted traversing Austin, Texas streets on Sunday morning, CEO Elon Musk posted on his social platform X that Tesla’s “robotaxi launch” would start today with rides for a flat fee of $4.20.A Reuters witness saw several Tesla “robotaxis” on Sunday morning in a popular area of the Texas capital called South Congress with no one in the driver’s seat but one person in the passenger seat.Tesla planned to have front-seat riders acting as “safety monitors,” though it remained unclear how much control they would have over the vehicles.Videos of driverless Teslas have also been posted on social media but it was not known if the vehicles carried any passengers.As the date of the planned robotaxi launch approached, Texas lawmakers moved to enact rules on autonomous vehicles in the state. Texas Gov.
Greg Abbott, a Republican, on Friday signed legislation requiring a state permit to operate self-driving vehicles.The law does not take effect until Sept.1, but the governor’s approval of it on Friday signals state officials from both parties want the driverless-vehicle industry to proceed cautiously.
A group of Democratic state lawmakers earlier this week asked Tesla to delay its planned robotaxi trial because of the legislation.Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. The governor’s office declined to comment.The law softens the state’s previous anti-regulation stance on autonomous vehicles.A 2017 Texas law specifically prohibited cities from regulating self-driving cars.In recent days, Tesla has sent invites to a select group of Tesla online influencers for a small and carefully monitored robotaxi trial, which the company has said would include 10 or 20 Model Y vehicles operated in a limited zone of Austin.The law requires autonomous-vehicle operators to get approval from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles before operating on public streets without a human driver.
It also gives state...