Tesla is heading for its inch in Robotaxi scheduled for June, with hundreds of test drivers quietly laying the foundations through Austin.
In recent months, around 300 Tesla test operators have led to the city streets 24 hours a day using prototypes of the company’s autonomous software as part of the program that the company internally calls “Project Rodeo”.
During the months preceding the launch, Tesla organized a training event with the first local speakers, worked to build “critical miles”, formed a team of remote operators and deployed a test version of its Robotaxi application to automatic pilot engineers in Austin and San Francisco.
The automaker has used test drivers to improve its driver’s software advanced since at least 2016, but Tesla has intensified its efforts in the past year, four current and old workers told Business Insider.
During Tesla’s layoffs in April 2024, he eliminated several test drivers and moved the Rodeo of the Tests General Test Project in the Auto Pilot Department under Ashok Elluswamy, his IA software vice-president, said three people with knowledge of the situation.
Since then, the intensity of the program has increased considerably and many workers have increased from updating the total autonomous Tesla system to the development of Robotaxi, two people said.
An imminent deadline
Internally, Tesla set a deadline for June 1 for the launch, said initiates, and Musk was informed during weekly automatic pilot meetings with the Elluswamy team that the company is on the right track to hit it.
The workers said they had not received details on the event or what it would involve.
In public, he provided a handful of details. When Tesla’s results call on Tuesday, Musk said Austin residents could pay to run in an autonomous Y model. He estimated that the program will be launched with 10 to 20 cars.
“It’s very forced,” said a former worker. “This is this revolutionary moment for Tesla, but there is also this feeling of last minute details in the air.”
A worker described the deadline of June 1 as more “ambitious” or “motivational”.
“A deadline of June 1 makes a launch of June 30 more likely,” they said.
Tesla has not publicly announced a specific date for the event beyond “June”. The company did not respond to a request for comments.
Key hedges
The former employee said that hitting a deadline in June presents challenges due to the difficulty of journalist Miles – tests carried out in complex or high -risk driving situations, as navigation of intense circulation, unprotected left turns management or the response to sudden obstacles.
These scenarios are crucial to assess whether the autonomous system can manage on -board cases without human intervention.
The test drivers who spoke with Bi described the test process involved in the accumulation of critical miles. Tesla attributes test drivers to specialized test routes, including “critical” tracks, where they are encouraged to avoid intervening, and “opponents” tracks, which simulate emergency scenarios such as reintegration of traffic from a stopover by the road.
Elluswamy declared during the call for earnings that it was “super rare” to obtain critical interventions and that test drivers can spend days without intervention.
“You cannot easily know if you improve or regress in your capacity” with the autonomous software, he said.
Tesla also worked with local emergency services, documents obtained by BI Show. The company met the city’s working vehicle working group, which includes members of the Austin fire service in December. He first held his hand in the spring of 2024, according to the documents.
In March, Tesla carried out about six hours of testing with the first local stakeholders, including police and fire services, during a closed test track, said a former worker. About 60 drivers were divided between Tesla test vehicles and personal vehicles to imitate normal traffic scenarios, the person said.
A spokesperson for the Austin Police Service confirmed that Tesla had organized a test day with the first stakeholders in Austin, the county of Williamson and Texas Department of Public Safety.
The representatives of the Austin fire service and the working group on autonomous vehicles did not respond to a request for comments.
Engineers test the Robotaxi application
Tesla began to demonstrate its Robotaxi application with employees. The automaker has published an Apple Testflight version to engineers earlier this year.
He was released in Austin and in the San Francisco Bay region. It allows Tesla employees to obtain free journeys in a geofise region, a virtual area that indicates where the vehicle can operate safely, two people said. In Austin, the Robotaxi service should be deployed in such an area, a person who has knowledge of the program said.
The demonstration program includes a safety driver who is seated in the driver’s seat and can take over if necessary. There was a discussion on the use of remote operators as security drivers for public deployment, two people familiar with the case said. The workers operate in an installation designated in California with remote controls, said a person.
The company has moved certain test drivers to remote operators, two people said. Tesla had remote operators on the bridge during its Robotaxi event in October; Workers are invited to take over only in an emergency, much like the remote operators of Waymo or Zoox, they said.
While Austin and San Francisco remain high priority test areas, Tesla uses test tests in other cities, including New York, Phoenix, Seattle and Atlanta. Musk said independent cars will take place in other cities during the year.
For the moment, Austin is the key playground for Tesla test pilots.
“There is always a convoy of teslas that is just going to Austin in circles,” Musk said on Tuesday. “It’s going to be pretty weird.”
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