First-in-history: Tesla Model Y drives itself from factory to buyer
What's the story
Tesla has successfully completed its first autonomous car delivery, a major milestone in the company's journey toward self-driving technology. The vehicle, a Model Y, drove itself from Tesla's Texas factory to a customer's home without any human intervention. The achievement was announced by Elon Musk on X, where he shared that the car navigated through parking lots, highways, and city roads all on its own.
Journey details
Delivery took 30 minutes
The autonomous delivery took a total of 30 minutes, during which the car reached a top speed of 116km per hour. The achievement comes just days after the firm launched a limited pilot of its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. A small fleet of around 10-20 vehicles is currently operating within a geofenced area, providing rides to select users at a flat fee of $4.20 each ride.
Market competition
Tesla's robotaxi service competes with Waymo
With the launch of its robotaxi service, Tesla is now competing directly with Alphabet-owned Waymo, which already has commercial robotaxi services in several US cities. The pilot program is part of Tesla's broader effort to demonstrate the real-world viability of full self-driving technology, an area that has faced challenges due to safety and regulatory concerns.
Executive exit
Tesla loses another executive
Alongside these developments, Tesla is also facing a high-profile exit from its ranks. Omead Afshar, a long-time Musk confidant and executive at Tesla, has left the company. Afshar had been with Tesla since 2017 and was instrumental in projects such as the Texas Gigafactory.