The first days of public testing of Tesla's robotaxi in Austin, Texas, have been marked by numerous traffic incidents and operational errors, according to videos posted by people the company selected to experience it.
As Tesla's sales decline, the electric carmaker's financial future depends largely on the success of its self-driving technology - an area in which CEO Elon Musk has placed high hopes.
Mr Musk has said he will soon roll out the service to other US cities and predicted that millions of Teslas will be "fully autonomous" by the second half of next year.
While Tesla fans who were invited to participate in the testing expressed support and shared videos showing the cars running smoothly for hours, the incidents still raised concerns from experts and federal road safety officials.
Recorded errors include robotaxes driving in the wrong lane, dropping off passengers in the middle of the road or at intersections, braking suddenly, speeding, and even climbing onto curbs.
In one notable case, a robotaxi veered into the oncoming lane for about six seconds. In another incident, the vehicle suddenly braked despite no apparent obstruction. Another video shows the robotaxi stopping abruptly twice in the middle of the road while passing a police car with its hazard lights on. All of these tests involved a safety monitor sitting in the passenger seat.
Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University professor and expert on autonomous technology, said the emergence of so many videos of driver errors in the early days was "quite early" and unexpected.
Tesla is currently testing about 10-20 robotaxes, which are standard Model Y models equipped with advanced software.
Austin city representatives said they were aware of the incidents and were actively working with Tesla to ensure traffic safety.
Fortunately, the recorded incidents did not result in accidents. Some experts, such as Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University, believe that robotaxis handled the situation well, perhaps even better than experienced human drivers.
Interestingly, passengers don't seem too bothered by operational errors — as was the case with Farzad Mesbahi, a former Tesla program manager.
During the test drive, he chose to “get out early,” and the car stopped at a traffic light. While he admitted the car shouldn’t have stopped there, both he and his companion saw it as an opportunity for Tesla to improve.
Musk’s promise of fully self-driving Teslas has been a long-standing one, but has yet to materialize. The robotaxi service is being rolled out for a limited group of users, with a $4.20 fee, in a limited area and avoiding complex conditions.
Tesla's rivals — like Alphabet's Waymo and General Motors' Cruise — have also encountered similar problems during their Austin launches, with dozens of instances of robotaxis blocking traffic or not following directions.
A serious accident in 2023 forced Cruise to suspend operations. Currently, Waymo is the only robotaxi service in the US that transports passengers for a fee without a human in the vehicle./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/robotaxi-cua-tesla-lien-tuc-mac-loi-trong-nhung-ngay-dau-thu-nghiem-post1046519.vnp
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