Elon Musk first announced his plan for Tesla to introduce a fleet of robotaxis in 2020 last year and while progress appears slow, there remains a chance the marque’s robotaxis could be ready to deploy this year, Car and Driver reports.
Last week, Musk was asked on Twitter how long it will take Tesla to deploy its robotaxi fleet. Musk responded by saying “functionality still looking good for this year. Regulatory approval is the big unknown.”
Functionality still looking good for this year. Regulatory approval is the big unknown.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 12, 2020
Mush has repeatedly promised the deployment of more and more advanced forms of autonomy but quite often, the introduction of such features have been delayed, partly due to regulatory issues. While the car manufacturer clearly believes it has the software and hardware needed to run a fleet of fully-self driving taxis before the end of the year, it remains hard to predict whether such a project will be given regulatory approval.
Read More: Tesla To Introduce Robotaxi Service Next Year, Unveils New Autonomous Chip
In addition to news that “functionality is looking good” for the robotaxis, Musk replied to a concerned Tesla owner on Twitter about a mysterious little camera they noticed in the car.
It’s there for when we start competing with Uber/Lyft & people allow their car to earn money for them as part of the Tesla shared autonomy fleet. In case someone messes up your car, you can check the video.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2019
A short video reveals that sitting just above the rear-view mirror of the Model 3 is a tiny pinhole camera. This camera has been the subject of speculation in the past. According to Musk, it will be used by the future robotaxis.
“It’s there for when we start competing with Uber/Lyft & people allow their car to earn money for them as part of the Tesla shared autonomy fleet. In case someone messes up your car, you can check the video.”
