Tesla robotaxi incidents caught on camera in Austin draw regulators' attention

Tesla was contacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration connected Monday aft videos posted connected societal media showed the company's robotaxis driving successful a chaotic mode connected nationalist roads successful Austin, Texas.

Elon Musk's electrical conveyance shaper debuted autonomous trips in Austin connected Sunday, opening the work to a constricted fig of riders by invitation only.

In the videos shared wide online, 1 Tesla robotaxi was spotted traveling the incorrect mode down a road, and different was shown braking hard in the mediate of traffic, responding to "stationary constabulary vehicles extracurricular its driving path," among respective different examples.

A spokesperson for NHTSA said successful an email that the bureau "is alert of the referenced incidents and is successful interaction with the shaper to stitchery further information."

Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy, and regulatory counsel Casey Blaine didn't instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The national information regulator says it doesn't "pre-approve caller technologies oregon conveyance systems." Instead, automakers certify that each conveyance exemplary they marque meets national centrifugal conveyance information standards. The bureau says it volition analyse "incidents involving imaginable information defects," and instrumentality "necessary actions to support roadworthy safety," aft assessing a wide array of reports and information.

NHTSA antecedently initiated an investigation into imaginable information defects with Tesla's FSD-Supervised technology, oregon FSD Beta systems, pursuing injurious and fatal accidents. That probe is ongoing.

The Tesla robotaxis successful Austin are Model Y SUVs equipped with the company's latest FSD Unsupervised bundle and hardware. The aviator robotaxi service, involving less than two-dozen vehicles, operates during daylight hours and lone successful bully weather, with a quality information supervisor successful the beforehand rider seat.

The work is present constricted to invited users, who hold to the presumption of Tesla's "early entree program." Those who person received invites are mostly promoters of Tesla's products, banal and CEO.

While the rollout sent Tesla shares up 8% connected Monday, the motorboat fell shy of fulfilling Musk's galore driverless promises implicit the past decade.

In 2015, Musk told shareholders Tesla cars would execute "full autonomy" wrong 3 years. In 2016, helium said a Tesla EV would beryllium capable to marque a cross-country thrust without needing immoderate quality involution earlier the extremity of 2017. And successful 2019, on a telephone with organization investors that helped him rise much than $2 billion, Musk said Tesla would person 1 cardinal robotaxi-ready vehicles connected the roadworthy successful 2020, capable to implicit 100 hours of driving enactment per week each, making wealth for their owners.

None of that has happened.

Meanwhile, Alphabet-owned Waymo says it has surpassed 10 cardinal paid trips past month. Competitors in China, including Baidu's Apollo Go, WeRide and Pony.ai, are besides operating commercialized robotaxi fleets.

WATCH: Tesla launches robotaxis successful Austin arsenic robotaxi contention heats up