Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) revealed its autonomous Cybercab last week at the We, Robot conference, introducing prototype Robotaxi and Robovan models for the first time.
The electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer announced it would introduce the US$30,000 robotaxis before 2027 with CEO Elon Musk adding that the company also had plans to bring autonomous driving to its Model 3 and Model Y cars in California and Texas by next year.
“…all transport will be fully autonomous within 50 years,” Musk tweeted before the event, painting a vision of a future in which car parks would no longer be necessary as self-driving taxi services become the norm.
Others weigh in on robotaxis
While the market appeared largely unimpressed by Tesla’s plans, cutting 9% or US$60 billion from the company’s stock price following the We, Robot conference, Tesla is not the only company investing in autonomous taxi services.
In August, ride-hailing service Uber revealed a collaboration with two autonomous vehicle companies, Wayve and General Motors-backed Cruise, to develop self-driving AI cars for its platform.
While the companies haven’t provided a specific timeline, Cruise cars could be available on the platform as early as 2025 – if no other major accidents occur.
Perhaps explaining some of reluctance in the US to fully embrace autonomous vehicles, Cruise was forced to recall 950 cars in 2023 after one of its vehicles struck a pedestrian.
Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also already operates more than 1,000 uncrewed robotaxis in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
Just two months after the Cruise incident, Alphabet subsidiary Waymo was forced to recall a fleet of 444 vehicles after two of its driverless taxis struck the same pickup truck as it was being towed.
China champions automated taxis
In the US, only seven states and Washington, DC, have passed legislation to regulate autonomous vehicles.
Most of those regulations revolve around manufacturing and testing, as the industry – at least within the US – is still in its infancy.
In contrast, Beijing has strongly supported autonomous vehicles, which are operating in at least 19 cities across China – seven cities are already trialling fully autonomous vehicles without any kind of human pilot or monitor.
Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) subsidiary Apollo Go intends to deploy 1,000 robotaxis in Wuhan by the end of the year, with plans to reach 100 cities by 2030.
Moving beyond grounded autonomous vehicles, Shanghai-based aviation technology firm Autoflight completed a successful test flight for its two-tonne electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft earlier this year.
The company previously completed the world’s first inter-city electric air taxi demonstration flight between the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai, covering 50 kilometres and turning what is usually a 3-hour car ride into a 20-minute jaunt over the Pearl River Delta.
Read: Tech Bytes: Chinese company's EV air taxi completes successful test flight
The Chinese Government revealed a list of 20 cities that would serve as a pilot program to build interconnected smart roads in July.
The idea is to develop infrastructure to support fully automated vehicles with sensors, cameras and data transmitters built into the very roads they drive on.
“I think the takeaway here is clear: The Chinese Government is willing to pour its support into the autonomous-vehicle industry and is eager to come out on top while other countries take a more cautious approach,” MIT Technology Review reporter Zeyi Yang wrote.
“It’s possible that this could all change overnight in the event of an incident like Waymo’s accident in the US last year, but for now, it feels as if China is opening up its roads to make way for more driverless cars and gearing up to lead the industry.”