I'm not so interested in Waymo since they will have a tough time scaling due to the high cost of their vehicles and tech stack. The speakers in the video seem unaware of how much cheaper the Robotaxi network is than Uber or Waymo – possibly simply because at the time of the recording the Robotaxi hadn't launched in Austin yet. But now that it's been operational since the summer I'd be surprised if nobody here has tried it out yet. The app is available to all. -Tom
afaik robotaxis are only available to people that currently own a Tesla - at least as of a few months ago. I haven't tried it yet but I see them around
there is usually a random person sitting in the front seat of these, making sure it doesn't crash, not sure why anyone would want to use that, versus waymo
we have covered robotaxi on SNL, it was actually the first weekend it launched in austin if i remember correctly
Good to see this. It's come a long way since this was published and will be rolling out in a bunch of cities this year, with the dedicated Cybercab vehicle entering production too. Having used FSD in my car, it's genuinely mind-blowing that it's a consumer product and so few seem to know what it's capable of. Hopefully that will change soon and a meaningful amount of lives can be saved. -Tom
The random person is just a precautionary measure, standard for new autonomous ventures in a given city. They were scheduled to be removed by the end of 2025 but that didn't happen, but they will be gone imminently. The other reason to use Robotaxi over Waymo is cost. It's much cheaper per mile. -Tom
If you are in/near Austin you should take a ride in a Robotaxi and report back on how your experience and how you felt. Given your prejudices, that would be fascinating! -Tom
I'm not so interested in Waymo since they will have a tough time scaling due to the high cost of their vehicles and tech stack. The speakers in the video seem unaware of how much cheaper the Robotaxi network is than Uber or Waymo – possibly simply because at the time of the recording the Robotaxi hadn't launched in Austin yet. But now that it's been operational since the summer I'd be surprised if nobody here has tried it out yet. The app is available to all.
-Tom
afaik robotaxis are only available to people that currently own a Tesla - at least as of a few months ago. I haven't tried it yet but I see them around
there is usually a random person sitting in the front seat of these, making sure it doesn't crash, not sure why anyone would want to use that, versus waymo
we have covered robotaxi on SNL, it was actually the first weekend it launched in austin if i remember correctly
i forget what episode that was maybe @wumbo knows
ya that’s it!
Good to see this. It's come a long way since this was published and will be rolling out in a bunch of cities this year, with the dedicated Cybercab vehicle entering production too. Having used FSD in my car, it's genuinely mind-blowing that it's a consumer product and so few seem to know what it's capable of. Hopefully that will change soon and a meaningful amount of lives can be saved.
-Tom
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As of today, Robotaxi is now live in Austin without the safety drivers, so there's literally nobody in the car at a much cheaper rate than Waymo.
-Tom
so started asking around austin this week about that, where is the app?
Might be Apple only right now, but it's in the app store. Just search for "Robotaxi".
found it https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tesla-robotaxi/id6744257048
The random person is just a precautionary measure, standard for new autonomous ventures in a given city. They were scheduled to be removed by the end of 2025 but that didn't happen, but they will be gone imminently. The other reason to use Robotaxi over Waymo is cost. It's much cheaper per mile.
-Tom
No, anyone can book a Robotaxi. The dedicated Robotaxi app is available to all to download. Please try it and report back.
-Tom
Out of interest, what are the relative cost for say? Uber vs Waymo vs Robotaxi?
In Santa Monica, Lyft luxury is the same price as Waymo
California is a failed state
Robotaxi is cheaper by quite a bit. If you dig around on YouTube you'll find people running these comparisons.
-Tom
My mistake.
I walk everywhere I can, pretty much, and I don't trust the robots tbh. But that's not a tested opinion that I've earned. It's a prejudice.
If you are in/near Austin you should take a ride in a Robotaxi and report back on how your experience and how you felt. Given your prejudices, that would be fascinating!
-Tom