Concerning new report reveals stunning issues for Tesla Robotaxis: 'The proof is in the pudding'

As Tesla continues its push into the autonomous vehicle space, the electric vehicle giant has run into a major problem: its cars keep crashing. 

What's happening?

According to Electrek, the new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report painted a grim picture of Tesla's Robotaxis on the streets of Austin, Texas. The report said Tesla's Autopilot vehicles continue to crash on a regular basis, even with the safety monitor in the driver's seat behind the wheel, preventing even more problems. 

The NHTSA has reported four crashes between July and September of this year alone, averaging one crash for every 62,500 miles that they've driven. However, the data doesn't factor in times when the safety monitor has to intercede, as Tesla redacts that data and doesn't release it to the public.  

Why are Tesla's Robotaxi crashes important?

Tesla is pushing to advance autonomous driving technology. CEO Elon Musk has hyped the technology as the future of the company, along with its AI-powered robot Optimus. He's invested heavily in AI to power the self-driving technology as well and has said on several occasions that he expects the company's automotive fleet to be fully autonomous in the near future. The company's next touted model, the Cybertaxi, doesn't even have a steering column in its design. 

However, the issues just keep coming for Tesla in this push. Musk's goal of having Full Self-Driving cars available across the U.S. by the end of the year is looking more unlikely by the day, and Tesla is still only testing in Austin. On top of that, its FSD technology has yet to gain any approval for testing without a safety driver. Meanwhile, Waymo has been testing in multiple cities, has no safety driver, and has continued to grow by leaps and bounds.

Even more concerning for Tesla is that its incident rate is far higher than Waymo's over the number of miles driven; Waymo averages one crash per 98,600 miles driven, and that's without a safety monitor. 

Safety issues like these don't bode well for vehicle sales, and they're also not great for the environment. As we move toward the clean energy transition, EVs are an important piece of the puzzle. Discouraging stats like Tesla's could hinder the widespread adoption of more eco-friendly vehicles. 

What's being done about Tesla's FSD safety record?

It's unclear exactly what Tesla is doing about its safety issues at this point, in large part because it's keeping the vast majority of safety data about its self-driving project out of the public eye. 

"Considering that these 'robo-taxis' are getting involved in accidents even with an actual safety monitor, goes to show just how unreliable FSD is at level 2," one commenter said, per Electrek. "As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, and if Tesla (or more specifically Musk) is unwilling to release said pudding, then why on earth would anyone trust anything that Tesla/Musk has to say?"

"Musk is not in the business to tell the truth," another replied to the Electrek article. "Musk is in the business of pumping up the stock price one lie at a time."

While there's still time for Tesla to start making up ground in the race to FSD technology, the instability of its stock price shows that investors are only willing to wait for so long before it starts generating revenue, and that clock keeps ticking.

Would you trust a self-driving car on a busy city street? Definitely 👍 No way 👎 Depends on the brand 🚙 Depends on the situation 🤔 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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