Series
Every part of this series in order, oldest first. 5 of 5 parts laid out. Theme: Robotaxis and Autonomous Vehicles.
After a decade of promises, Tesla began offering invited riders trips in self-driving Model Ys in a small part of South Austin. Within a day, videos of erratic driving drew questions from federal regulators.
California regulators say Tesla hasn't applied for the permits needed to carry passengers in an autonomous vehicle. So the Bay Area service uses human drivers running Tesla's software.
Seven months after launch, Tesla began offering paid rides with no employee in the car. Videos show another Tesla trailing behind, and Tesla says only "a few" cars are unsupervised.
Tesla announced Dallas and Houston days before its first-quarter results, and Orlando and Tampa around its second-quarter call. Crowdsourced counts show a handful of unsupervised cars in each.
The two-seater lacks permanently attached manual controls such as a steering wheel and pedals, NHTSA says. The agency wants Tesla to explain, under oath, how it certified the car as meeting federal safety standards.