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Tesla’s FSD bashed by Zoox executive ahead of robotaxi rollout

Credit: Zoox

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An executive from Zoox has shared some choice words for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, just as the Amazon-owned company starts rolling out its first driverless ride-hailing vehicles in two U.S. cities.

During an interview at the Tech Crunch Disrupt conference on Wednesday, Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson cast doubt on Tesla’s recent claims that Unsupervised FSD could be seen in some of the company’s vehicles as soon as next year. Levenson claimed that Tesla doesn’t currently “have technology that works” when asked if regulatory or technology issues were the larger problem in the company’s path to robotaxi deployment.

“The more fundamental issue is they don’t have technology that works,” Levinson said of Tesla’s FSD. “And by works, I want to differentiate between a driver assistance system that drives most of the time — except when it doesn’t, and then you have to take over — versus a system that’s so reliable and robust that you don’t need a person in it.”

The executive also highlighted that he doesn’t think Tesla’s camera-based FSD doesn’t have enough equipment to properly keep people safe, saying that it can “lull you into this false sense of complacency” before actually going on to do the wrong thing.

“Our perspective is you really do need significantly more hardware than Tesla is putting in their vehicles to build a robotaxi that is not just as safe, but as especially safer than a human,” Levinson adds.

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Elon Musk followed up with a response to the story, highlighting the fact that Zoox wouldn’t exist today if it weren’t for Amazon bailing them out.

You can watch the full interview with Levinson below, with the question about Tesla’s FSD taking place a little after 21 minutes.

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Tesla’s FSD Supervised, Cybercab, and competition

Earlier this month, Tesla held its “We, Robot” event to unveil the two-seater fully autonomous Cybercab platform, which it expects to begin mass producing before 2027. Teslarati was among those at the event, and among the first to take a ride in the Cybercab, coverage of which you can see on X here.

While Tesla owners can already use FSD Supervised by either paying a monthly subscription or purchasing the software along with their vehicle, the company has yet to roll out a ride-hailing service for vehicle owners, or a completely unsupervised offering of the software. Tesla said during the event that Model 3 and Model Y owners will get access to Unsupervised FSD in California and Texas by next year, before rolling the software out to the Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X shortly thereafter.

Alphabet-owned Waymo has already started deploying driverless ride-hailing vehicles in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Zoox also announced this month its plans to deploy completely driverless robotaxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Meanwhile, General Motors-owned (GM-owned) self-driving company Cruise is attempting to re-launch paid rides, after facing legal troubles and staff shake-ups following an accident with a pedestrian last October.

Still, Tesla has constantly said that its technology will be more scalable than those of other companies, due to the software being trained by the many drivers who use it in their own cars. The company has also touted its software’s neural network being trained on vast amounts of real-world driving footage, rather than with specific commands in a geofenced area of operation, which it claims makes it able to better handle fringe scenarios.

Tesla investment in autonomous driving program to exceed $10 billion this year: Musk

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What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Tesla adjusts Online Design Studio for easier trade-in process

Tesla has a great trade-in program that allows you to give the company your vehicle in exchange for cash, even if it’s not an EV. Their trades are mostly fair, but the company seems to undervalue its own vehicles, and there have been plenty of complaints over offers in the past.

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(Credit: Tesla Asia | X)

Tesla has adjusted its Online Design Studio to make for an easier trade-in process, reflecting the details of the exchange for a more accurate reflection of payment terms.

Tesla has a great trade-in program that allows you to give the company your vehicle in exchange for cash, even if it’s not an EV. Their trades are mostly fair, but the company seems to undervalue its own vehicles, and there have been plenty of complaints over offers in the past.

Trade-ins are usually given by submitting vehicle details, then Tesla sends an email with an offer. Offers are non-negotiable, but do adjust over time, although the latest offer is valid for 30 days.

I traded my ICE vehicle for a Tesla Model Y: here’s how it went

Knowing your new Tesla’s cash price, leasing or loan details, and monthly payment information used to be done by the car buyer. From personal experience, I simply subtracted my trade-in from the cash price of the Tesla Model Y, and I plugged those numbers into the payment calculator.

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Now, Tesla is implementing the trade-in process directly into the Design Studio. It will adjust the price of the car and the different monthly payment methods automatically:

The change is already noticed in a handful of states, including California, but it has not rolled out across the board quite yet. It will be implemented in all of the U.S., as well as Canada, this coming week.

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The trade-in process is very simple, and after you accept your offer, you simply drop your vehicle off during the delivery process. Making this simple change will be greatly appreciated by owners.

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Tesla confirms Robotaxi is heading to five new cities in the U.S.

After launching in Austin, Texas, in late June and the Bay Area of California just a few weeks later, Tesla has been attempting to expand its Robotaxi suite to new states and cities in the U.S., and even outside of the country.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Robotaxi will hit five new cities in the United States in the coming months, the company confirmed.

After launching in Austin, Texas, in late June and the Bay Area of California just a few weeks later, Tesla has been attempting to expand its Robotaxi suite to new states and cities in the U.S., and even outside of the country.

The Robotaxi suite is a ride-hailing service Tesla offers, but the details of it change with each jurisdiction, as regulations vary. For example, in Austin, Tesla can operate the Robotaxi suite without anyone in the driver’s seat, as long as the vehicle does not enter a freeway.

Credit: Tesla

In the Bay Area, a Safety Monitor rides in the driver’s seat, essentially acting as the vehicle operator with Full Self-Driving controlling the car.

The local regulations and how Tesla handles them will continue to be a relevant part of the discussion, especially as the company aims to expand the Robotaxi program to different areas. This has been a primary focus of the company for several months, especially within the United States.

CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla was aiming to launch Robotaxi in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. However, the company detailed five specific cities where it will launch Robotaxi next during the Annual Shareholder Meeting on Thursday.

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Tesla will launch Robotaxi in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, and Miami next, broadening its Service Area for the suite to more major cities across the U.S.

It has said it plans to offer the service to half of the U.S. population by the end of the year, but it does not seem as if it will expand to more than a handful of cities this year, which is still tremendous progress, all things considered.

As far as autonomy is concerned, Tesla has always had lofty expectations and has made some even loftier statements.

At the Shareholder Meeting, Musk said that the company would likely be able to enable vehicle owners to text while the vehicle drives, alleviating them from potentially having some of the responsibility they have behind the wheel.

Tesla says texting and driving capability is coming ‘in a month or two’

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It is not confirmed that Tesla will roll this out in the next few months, but Musk said there is a possibility.

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Tesla launches another new Model Y trim at a bargain price with massive range

It is the second most-affordable Model Y trim level in China, trailing the base Rear-Wheel-Drive and coming in under the All-Wheel-Drive.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched yet another new Model Y trim level, but this time it is in China, and it is at a bargain price.

It also has an insane range rating.

On Friday, Tesla launched the new Model Y Long Range Rear-Wheel-Drive in China, priced at 288,500 yuan ($40,500), an incredible deal considering it is not a stripped-down version of the vehicle like the Model Y Standard.

It is the second most-affordable Model Y trim level in China, trailing the base Rear-Wheel-Drive and coming in under the All-Wheel-Drive.

The big appeal with this new Model Y trim is obviously its price, but its range rating is also one of the best we’ve seen. Rated at 821 kilometers on the CLTC scale, it converts to 510 miles. It uses a 78.4 kWh CATL battery.

Converted to real-world range, however, that 821-kilometer range rated by the CLTC actually is equivalent to about 357 miles on the EPA scale, which is still a very respectable number and comes in at a higher range than the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive configuration that is available in the U.S.

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Tesla has truly brought a wide variety of Model Y trims to the Chinese market, including a new Model Y L configuration that features a slightly longer wheelbase, as well as additional interior features like extended thigh legrests and captain’s chairs with armrests.

It is unclear whether Tesla will bring a Premium Rear-Wheel-Drive option of the Model Y to the U.S., especially as it has already rolled out four configurations of the all-electric crossover in the market. With the new Standard offerings, Tesla will likely keep its lineup as simple as possible.

However, the company has hinted that there is a slim possibility the Model Y L could come to the U.S. sometime late next year, but CEO Elon Musk said that it is not a guarantee.

Tesla is more concerned with self-driving efforts in the U.S., and despite calls from customers for larger vehicles, it does not seem concerned with making them available, at least not for now.

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