Elon Musk Asked Tesla Robotaxi Skeptics To Try ‘Full Self Driving’ – And A Wall Street Analyst Nearly Crashed

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, says anyone who has doubts about the benefits of robotaxis should take a spin on the company’s most recent self-driving feature. But William Stein, a Truist Securities analyst, did exactly that, and he shared his terrifying near-crash experience.

Stein’s experience confirms other customers’ worries over Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) function. Although it is advertised as a driver-assist option that can maneuver both city streets and highways, it still needs a human driver to step in when needed. Musk anticipates a fleet of autonomous robotaxis in the future and asserts that FSD is safer than human drivers.

During a recent investor call, Musk encouraged skepticism by inviting people to experience FSD firsthand. He stated, “Once people use it, they tend to continue using it. So it’s vastly compelling.” However, Stein’s test drive in a special “demo mode” revealed significant issues. He noted the vehicle made several illegal maneuvers, such as switching lanes on restricted highways and accelerating through intersections unsafely. Stein had to intervene to prevent accidents, including one incident involving a police officer directing traffic.

Stein’s recent test was not all negative. He acknowledged improvements since his last test in April, praising the system’s adaptability to challenging situations like lane closures and heavy traffic. Yet, he concluded the system is “no better, arguably worse,” than before.

Musk believes Tesla’s robotaxi service could significantly increase the company’s value, predicting Tesla shares might be worth $5 trillion by the decade’s end. However, Tesla has delayed the rollout of robotaxi details from early August to October 10 to make “important changes.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has scrutinized Tesla’s FSD and Autopilot features. In January, NHTSA recalled 363,000 vehicles with FSD, citing safety risks. More recently, nearly 2 million vehicles were recalled due to Autopilot’s potential to create false security and misuse. Tesla faced another recall for 1.8 million vehicles over software issues with detecting unlatched hoods.