Robotaxi event, oh dear!

[tsedge]

I caught a bit of the robotaxi event from Tesla.

Was hoping to see an appealling compact 5 seater that would form the basis of a model 2 for launch worldwide next year.

Instead I see a long but 2 seater driverless vehicle with huge impractical butterfly doors.

Not remotely suitable for our roads or car parks and looks ultra sterile and bare bones inside.

Why on earth are they focusing on this and giving up the car market to competitors?

(Their autonomy efforts are impressive but still a long way away from handing all situations and then further years away from regulatory approvals).

Please point out where I have got it wrong! I like Tesla generally, some amazing tech.

 

[mg4mc]

I concur entirely. The point of taxis made for the job is maximising space inside (lots of headroom, seats for up to 5) and minimising the exterior dimensions, and giving them tight turning circles. Tesla seem to have do the opposite to all that. Might be ok for the wide boulevards of LA (where you can afford three cabs to take your group of five), pretty hopeless in most other cities outside the USA.

 

[Anon70]

These are the TFL requirements for a licensed taxi in London...

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/taxi-conditions-of-fitness-update-2019.pdf