Tesla's robotaxi plan attracts federal safety scrutiny
Public trust in self-driving vehicles is critical, but without federal standards, companies in the sector get to decide what to share about the safety of their technology, with varying levels of transparency.
As Tesla gears up to launch robotaxis next month in Austin, Texas, there are still plenty of outstanding questions.
Why it matters: Even if you're personally not ready to ride in the back seat of a robotaxi, everyone will be sharing the road with them soon enough.
People want assurances that cars with no one behind the wheel will behave predictably and safely.
The big picture: AV companies use various tactics to build public trust.
Months before launching the first driverless semi-trucks in Texas last month, Aurora Innovation shared details of its safety case framework.
Gatik enlisted a third-party auditor to validate safety claims about its automated trucks and named an independent safety advisory council.
Waymo regularly releases independent, peer-reviewed research analyzing the safety of its robotaxis.
Tesla's website shares safety performance data about its assisted-driving system, but as with most companies, the data is selective, safety experts say.
"There are different degrees of transparency, but as a professor, I would never give anyone higher than a C," said Missy Cummings, director of George Mason University's Autonomy and Robotics Center and a former official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Driving the news: Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CNBC Tuesday the company is on track to launch a modest fleet of 10 or 12 robotaxis in Austin next month.
"We will have to see how well it does. But I think it's prudent for us to start with a small number, confirm that things are going well, and then scale it up proportionate to how well we see it's doing," Musk said.
By the end of 2026, Musk said he expects one million self-driving Teslas, whose owners could choose to add them to the robotaxi network to earn money when not in use.
Yes, but: Some AV experts question whether Tesla's system — which relies on AI and a handful of inexpensive cameras, rather than a suite of redundant sensors — will be able to handle unexpected situations.
NHTSA is already investigating collisions involving Tesla's current assisted-driving technology (called FSD Supervised, short for "full self-driving"), to determine if the system can get blinded by sun glare, fog or airborne dust.
That tech is the foundation for its future driverless system, Tesla says. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Zoom in: In a letter earlier this month, Tanya Topka, the director of NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, demanded Tesla share more details about its plans, so the agency can understand how its fully driverless robotaxis will compare to the driver-assistance products available on Tesla vehicles today.
NHTSA wants to know, for example, how the vehicles will be monitored in real time, whether they can be remotely "tele-operated" by Tesla staff in case they get stuck and how robotaxis will respond to emergency vehicles.
Where it stands: Tesla says it is still working through a "big list of issues" to reduce the number of times backup safety drivers have to take control of the wheel during pre-launch testing.
"We are aware of the interventions that are happening...and that's why we are hardcore burning it down," Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's director of Autopilot software, told investors on an April 22 earnings call.
Musk told CNBC Tuesday that remote monitors will be "extremely paranoid" in their oversight, but stopped short of confirming whether they will be capable of taking control of vehicles remotely.
Waymo has a remote response team to guide its robotaxis through decision-making when necessary, but they do not operate the vehicle from afar.
What to watch: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNBC the AV industry needs to be more transparent. "We don't want to punish them. We want to give them better rules."
The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association — of which Tesla is not a member — wants federal guidelines for autonomous vehicles, and is also calling for a national safety data repository on crashes involving self-driving cars.
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Tesla's planned robotaxi launch in tech-friendly Austin has Musk playing catch-up in his hometown
Tesla's long-awaited entry into the robotaxi market — expected later this month — is coming to Austin, Texas, which has emerged as a key battleground for self-driving technology. CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post on X last week that the company has been testing Model Y vehicles with no safety drivers on board in the Texas capital for several days. Tesla's Austin robotaxi service will kick off with 10 vehicles and expand to thousands, moving into more cities if the launch goes well, Musk said in a May 20 interview with CNBC's David Faber. But while the market remains nascent, Tesla already faces a hefty amount of competition. The electric vehicle maker is one of several companies using Austin as a testing ground and debut market for self-driving technology. 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