Incidents with Tesla Robotaxi Austin Getting Attention of Federal Regulators

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has contacted Tesla about a number of videos showing rogue behaviors of its autonomous robotaxis operating on public roads in Austin, Texas.

On Sunday, Tesla rolled out a new robotaxi pilot program to Austin with fully autonomous rides to a small number of selectively invited users. The pilot includes Model Y SUVs that are equipped with the latest Unsupervised hardware and software, but the robotaxis are limited to daylight hours and ideal weather conditions. The robotaxis must have a human safety supervisor sitting in the front passenger seat.

However, social media provided a number of videos that raised legitimate safety concerns. One video showed a Tesla robotaxi traveling the wrong way down a street; another video showed a robotaxi slamming to stop in the middle of traffic after apparently determining there were stationary police vehicles in the road ahead. These videos and others raise questions about the appropriateness of the technology for the road.

In an email, a spokesperson for the NHTSA said the agency is "aware of the scenarios referenced and is in contact with the manufacturer to learn more."

Tesla executives, including vice president of vehicle engineering Lars Moravy and regulatory counsel Casey Blaine, have not commented so far.

NHTSA stressed that it does not pre-approve vehicle technologies, so automakers self-certify certain that they meet federal safety standards. NHTSA will continue to observe and investigate potential indications of safety defects and will take regulatory actions as warranted to protect the public.

This is not the first instance of regulatory scrutiny for Tesla.The company is already under investigation for safety issues related to its FSD Beta system, following a series of crashes—some of them fatal. That investigation remains ongoing.

The current robotaxi service is a pilot program, and it seems to be limited to those users who are in a portion of an early access program with a contract and a set of terms and conditions. Many of the people that are in this early access program, probably sought after and are fans of the Tesla brand as a whole and the stock, as well as Elon Musk.

The bumpy launch notwithstanding, shares of Tesla soared by 8% after it launched in Austin. Nonetheless, this is yet another milestone that does not live up to Musk's previous long-standing promises over the use of driverless technology.

Musk said in 2015 that a Tesla would be fully autonomous in three years, he said in 2016 a Tesla would drive coast-to-coast without any human intervention by the end of 2017, and by 2019 he told investors that in 2020, Tesla, would have 1 million robotaxis on the road that would make money for their owners by driving 100 hours per week.

None of those predictions played out.

Given that, Tesla's competition is growing. Waymo (Alphabet) just reported its 10 millionth paid ride in its autonomous vehicles. Baidu's Apollo Go, WeRide, and Pony.ai are all operating commercial robotaxi services in China. These companies are only growing and growing and reach themselves.