A 2025 Tesla Model 3 in Full-Self Driving mode drives off of a rural road, clips a tree, loses a tire, flips over, and comes to rest on its roof. Luckily, the driver is alive and well, able to post about it on social media.
I just don’t see how this technology could possibly be ready to power an autonomous taxi service by the end of next week.
It’s ready, but you’re assuming an entirely general taxi service. It will be carefully constrained like Wayno was. It will be limited to easy streets and times, probably lower speeds, where there is less chance of problems. It’s ready for that.
There’s always a reason. I agree with the author: most likely it misinterpreted a shadow as a solid obstacle. I’m not excusing it but humans do that too, and Tesla will likely ensure it doesn’t come up in their taxi service.
Remember that robotaxi doesn’t actually exist yet. I’m pretty sure the plan is to start with Model Y having human safety drivers. it’s ready for that
I did a trial to find out for myself and my reason for it not being ready yet is a bit different. Full self-driving did perfectly under “normal” conditions, and every time it made me nervous was an edge case. However it made me realize driving is all edge cases. It’s not ready and may never be