Can the Robotaxi, which has been in development for a decade, save the sluggish Tesla?

Ten test vehicles caused Tesla's stock price to skyrocket by over 10%. After leaving the political arena, Elon Musk returned to the company and pulled off a major move.

On June 22, the first batch of over a dozen Tesla Robotaxis were put into trial operation in Austin, Texas, USA, officially launching Tesla's autonomous taxi service. This attracted hundreds of die - hard fans and industry insiders to take the first rides. When their test - ride videos were made public, on June 23, Tesla's stock price soared. It rose by over 10% during intraday trading and finally closed with an 8.23% increase, adding hundreds of billions of dollars to its market value. Netizens joked that on average, each Robotaxi brought in $10 billion in revenue for shareholders.

From a long - term perspective, Wall Street has generally given optimistic forecasts. Some analysts have even raised their price target for Tesla's stock to $500. What does that mean? The current stock price is only $327 per share. This also marks that Tesla has finally emerged from the slump caused by not launching new models for a long time and shaken off the negative impact of Musk's political distractions. It has finally got back on the development track.

The problem is that autonomous taxis are not a new concept. In China, there is Luobo; in the US, there are already Waymo and Cruise. Although Tesla started researching and developing in around 2015, it got off to an early start but ended up being late to the game. It missed countless deadlines and took 10 years to launch. As a latecomer, what enables it to trigger a capital frenzy? Does the Robotaxi really perform perfectly?

01 Robotaxi, Let the Old - Hand Driver Start!

In the evaluations of the first - batch of experiencers, the high - frequency words are "smooth" and "comfortable." The Robotaxi can drive smoothly in most scenarios. It won't suddenly decelerate or brake sharply. The steering input and return are gentle and precise. It won't make small corrections, nor will it zig - zag within the lane. Riding in it feels completely natural, just like having an experienced driver in front.

At night with low visibility, the Robotaxi doesn't show obvious deterioration. It can still detect obstacles from a relatively long distance. Whether it's finding the way, following the lane markings, or making turns, it can execute precisely.

Some of the Robotaxi's mechanisms even amazed the experiencers. For example, regarding the issue of braking to a stop, many drivers have trouble controlling the braking force. Coupled with the interference of regenerative braking, the car often jerks forward when braking, commonly known as "nodding" when braking. Since the Robotaxi is completely driven by the system, it can better control the braking force and come to a stop extremely smoothly.

The Robotaxi can also handle many unexpected situations on the road intelligently. A blogger captured during the experience that a pedestrian was walking on the edge of the sidewalk, one step away from entering the motorway. A human driver might not even notice, but the Robotaxi reacted within less than half a second. It immediately slowed down and continued slowly until the pedestrian left the motorway before accelerating again.

The Robotaxi also has a high recognition rate for non - human objects. There are many wild deer in Austin. When they cross the road, the Robotaxi can slow down in time to avoid them.

In addition, the Robotaxi knows to yield to emergency vehicles. If it encounters a police car or an ambulance trying to overtake, it will quickly pull over to the side to make way for the emergency vehicle. In some cases, the Robotaxi also knows to "break the rules appropriately." If all the surrounding cars are exceeding the speed limit, it won't stick rigidly to the rules but will follow the speed of the vehicle in front, refusing to be a moving roadblock.

The smooth performance of the Robotaxi generally meets people's expectations. After all, Tesla's latest V13 version of the FSD system is already a benchmark in the industry. According to Goldman Sachs, V13 can operate without human intervention in 97% of driving scenarios, and the critical intervention distance reaches 400 - 450 miles. As a fully autonomous vehicle, the Robotaxi has better conditions and higher requirements, and its capabilities should at least reach or exceed the level of V13.

Besides the performance of autonomous driving itself, Tesla has also made many special improvements in the interaction aspect to provide better services for passengers. Yes! The rear - seat small screen, which has always been criticized as useless, has finally found its real purpose. After passengers get in the car, they need to click a button on the rear - seat screen to start the journey. If they need to get off midway, they can also operate through the screen.

During the ride, the screen can also display the map, the route, and the estimated time of arrival. It can control the in - car air - conditioning and can be used to play songs or radio.

Tesla even created a humorous Easter egg. There is actually an option to pay a tip on the payment page of the Robotaxi. When you wonder why a robot needs a tip and click on it, a "just kidding" message will pop up to amuse you, so don't take it seriously.

02 Imperfect Autonomous Driving

Generally speaking, the performance of the Robotaxi in the early stage of trial operation is commendable. However, being commendable doesn't mean being perfect.

After reporting the good news, we should also report the bad news. Since most of the first - batch of experiencers carried recording devices, the occasional glitches of the Robotaxi were also recorded. For example, a blogger following the Robotaxi found that the Robotaxi would suddenly brake for no reason on empty roads. After carefully reviewing the video clips, he found a common point: when the ghost braking occurred, there were police cars parked by the roadside. It's possible that there is a problem with the Robotaxi's logic for avoiding emergency vehicles.

Moreover, the Robotaxi seems to have a misunderstanding of what "by the roadside" means. Several bloggers encountered situations where the Tesla that came to pick them up didn't pull over but stopped illegally in the middle of the road with its hazard lights on, forcing them to cross the motorway to get in the car. If you press the temporary stop button during the journey, you may also encounter a similar situation. The car will just stop in the middle of the road. Finally, the blogger had to call the service center, and Tesla remotely controlled the Robotaxi to start moving again.

A blogger also captured a scary moment when the Robotaxi suddenly malfunctioned. It was going straight and seemed to realize that it was in the left - turn lane only after entering the intersection. So, within a few seconds, it kept switching between turning left and going straight, twisting the steering wheel back and forth. Finally, it even drove into the oncoming lane and illegally drove in the wrong direction for dozens of meters. Fortunately, there were no cars coming from the opposite direction at that time.

It can be seen that the system of the Robotaxi is still not stable enough. Although it drives smoothly, its reliability is questionable.

Moreover, you should know that the trial - operation area of the Robotaxi is very small, which is only the South City area of Austin, covering an area of only over 70 square kilometers. Tesla can fully customize and optimize the system according to the road conditions in the South City area. The result after optimization is still a bit disappointing.

From another detail, you can also see Tesla's caution or lack of confidence. Each Robotaxi is equipped with a safety driver sitting in the front - passenger seat. They always hold the door handle. Netizens speculate that Tesla may have converted the door button into an emergency stop button for the Robotaxi. In case of danger, the safety driver can press it to stop the vehicle.

In addition to the button on the door handle, there is also a button to exit autonomous driving on the car - infotainment screen. There has been at least one case where the safety driver took over. At that time, a UPS delivery truck suddenly stopped in front and started reversing. The Robotaxi didn't detect it at all and continued to drive straight towards the truck. The safety driver quickly clicked the exit button.