Tesla Researcher Points Out Flaws in Direct Path to Driverless Cars

Tesla Inc. (TSLA) researcher Troy Teslike expressed concerns about the company's tactics regarding vehicle autonomy. On Friday, he criticized Tesla's method, suggesting that it skips crucial steps towards achieving full driverless vehicle operations.

What Happened: Teslike highlighted the progress made by Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, which required three years, from October 2017 to October 2020, to effectively handle all edge cases before transitioning from unsupervised testing, with a safety driver present but not actively controlling the vehicle, to fully autonomous operations.

Waymo's careful approach allowed for a thorough understanding of complex driving scenarios. In contrast, Teslike believes Tesla is moving too quickly towards full autonomy without adequately addressing underlying safety and operational concerns.

Currently, Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system demands that the driver remain actively attentive and ready to regain control if necessary. Teslike argues that before reaching full driverless functionality, there should be an intermediate stage where drivers do not have to constantly monitor the vehicle, allowing them to engage in other activities, like checking emails, while the car proactively informs them if it requires assistance.

“Before going driverless, the car is supposed to work without the driver watching the road all the time,” he pointed out.

Teslike criticized Tesla CEO Elon Musk for proposing to skip this necessary intermediary step and pursue immediate driverless operations, labeling it an “unrealistic plan.”

Why It Matters: During a call discussing Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings in January, Musk announced plans to initiate the testing of an autonomous ride-hailing service in Texas by June, utilizing vehicles equipped with the FSD system. He stated, “Teslas will be in the wild with no one in them in June in Austin… It’s literally five, six months away, five months away kind of thing,” indicating confidence that driverless vehicles could operate in multiple cities by the end of the year.

Musk previously described Tesla’s envisioned robotaxi fleet as blending elements of Airbnb and Uber, with some vehicles owned by Tesla while customers could also manage the addition or removal of their own cars. Riders would access the service via the Tesla app, similar to existing ride-hailing platforms.

Check out more of future mobility developments and discussions.

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Market news and data are continuously evolving, but caution and thorough evaluation are necessary when transitioning technologies that impact public safety.

Tesla, Autonomy, Waymo