Uber ridicules Tesla's autonomous taxi idea

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By wishing to allow its customers to generate money by making their Tesla available of a self-driving taxi system, Elon Musk risks a bitter failure? This seems to be what Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber – pioneer in VTC services.

The firm with the green logo has gone very far with the concept, even allowing anyone to occasionally generate money by joining UberPop. All without the slightest approval, and at particularly low prices, causing discontent among licensed taxis and certain more upscale VTC drivers.

Establishing an alternative transport system is far from simple

The service is now closed in several countries following court decisions. A challenge among others that have marked the 15 years of existence of the application which has profoundly changed the market. Guest of a podcast taken up by the Fortune site (Logan Barlett Show), the boss of Uber was therefore questioned about the arrival of such a service.

From what we know, the robotaxi service (its official name remains unknown) that Tesla is to present depends on the manufacturer's progress in fully autonomous driving. We are talking here about level 5 autonomy, namely driving where the presence of a driver is no longer necessary.

A capacity long promised by Elon Musk – but which still faces significant technological, ethical, and regulatory obstacles. A beta of the system is available in some countries, but the system remains imperfect. Above all, it only reaches level 4 of autonomy for the moment (the driver is still required).

In theory, the owner will be able to make his vehicle available to the network when he is not using it. Part of the sums paid by passengers will then be returned to him. Enough to generate additional income with little effort and passively.

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Is Tesla going too fast with its robotaxis ?

The service could be presented as early as October 10, for a launch on the roads in 2025 in certain countries (initially, we imagine exclusively in the United States. An unrealistic horizon for Dara Khosrowshahi, who unfolds his doubts in a rather constructive manner.

His first remark concerns the normal use of the car by its owners: “It is likely that the times when you will want to use your Tesla will be the same times when traffic will be at its peak. There are peaks and troughs in terms of supply and demand, the manager explains.

Before noting that not everyone will want to lend their car to strangers. Beyond that, the Uber boss wonders how Tesla plans to set up a system that optimizes the supply and demand for vehicles. A very complex system according to Dara Khosrowshahi:

“We had to learn how to build a system that could work well for both the passenger and the driver. It took us 15 years. It cost us tens of billions of dollars in capital”, he concludes. The question therefore remains open on the realism of the robotaxi service that Elon Musk seems to wish to set up.

• Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi shares his doubts about the robotaxi system that Tesla is expected to announce soon.
• According to him, the manufacturer is going a little too fast and forgetting the complexities related to the implementation of an alternative transport system.
• Uber can for its part rely on 15 years of experience, and difficulties…

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