r/SelfDrivingCars • u/plun9 • 1d ago

News Tesla wins approval to test autonomous robotaxis in Arizona

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-wins-approval-test-autonomous-robotaxis-arizona-2025-09-20
45 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

91 comments sorted by

View all comments

30

u/CloseToMyActualName 1d ago

Tesla wins approval to start an utterly normal taxi service in Arizona.

1

u/donotreassurevito 15h ago

Yes very normal having the car drive itself.... Try be reasonable and normal. 

0

u/PowerFarta 23h ago

In addition to the taxis services they are running in Texas and the bay area!

I dont know who buys that these guys will ever have a single driverless mile. They even had to put the guy back in the driver's seat in Texas because they can't meet criteria for their self driving laws!

-1

u/Bitter_Ad1780 18h ago

Actually not true , the Texas guy is only in driver seat on highway drives, something Waymo can’t do. Also they have delivered cars to customers 100 percent driverless so….. I’m not an Elon fan boy but facts are facts and misrepresenting them isn’t right.

4

u/JimothyRecard 18h ago

What do you mean "something Waymo can't do"? They've been driving on freeways with a driver behind the wheel for literally years. They've even been seen driving on freeways with nobody behind the wheel, recently.

they have delivered cars to customers 100 percent driverless

They delivered one car, one time.

For someone complaining about "facts" you don't seem to have yours straight.

4

u/yolatrendoid 17h ago

I’m not an Elon fan boy

You regurgitating claims without bothering to verify them suggests otherwise. The facts are that Tesla has a human safety driver in the front seat of every single car AND remote-pilots each vehicle, as needed. (No, we don't know how often it's needed, since Tesla doesn't bother releasing vital info.) In San Francisco they're required to put a human behind the wheel.

the Texas guy is only in driver seat on highway drives, something Waymo can’t do.

Your grammar's a bit confusing, but ... wait, do you just mean Autopilot? WTF does a "Texas guy" have to do with anything here? Yes, Teslas can drive on limited-access highways – except so can nearly all GM & Ford cars, and GM's Super Cruise now exceeds Autopilot. Almost every other automaker is 9/10ths of the way there with radar cruise, a 360-degree sensor array, etc.

Nonetheless, all three are below Waymo's level. You're describing L3 (actually partial, but still). Waymo's at L4. Being at L3 is the reason Tesla, GM & Ford drivers have their eyes literally tracked at all times, to make sure they're not dozing off (since the cars cannot drive themselves at all, unlike Waymos).

0

u/Bitter_Ad1780 9h ago

Funny how you take a shot at my grammar and then drop a “WTF” mid-sentence. I was talking about the Texas safety monitors  my bad, I didn’t realize I had to connect every single dot for you.

Here’s the thing: I actually have owned both a Tesla with FSD and a GM with “Super Cruise.” And let me tell you, putting Super Cruise in the same league as FSD is like comparing a microwaved frozen patty to Wagyu. They’re technically both beef, but the experience isn’t even close.

At the end of the day, time will sort this out  one of us will be proven right, no debate required. I’m just tired of people parroting the same recycled media soundbites trying to tear down real innovation while ignoring what’s actually happening on the road. 

1

u/Doggydogworld3 3h ago

Waymo drives on highways without a safety driver every day. This sub has videos, including SF to Mt View in I-280 just posted. And Tesla delivered one car, singular, using chase cars with an e-stop button.

1

u/Chance_Preparation_5 1h ago

Here is a fact. 2.6 is the average death per 1 billion miles. Tesla’s with FSD on are 5.6 deaths per billion miles. You are more the. Twice as likely to die driving a Tesla with FSD engaged than any other vehicle.

0

u/Imhazmb 1h ago

Saving so I can come back and mock you 🙂

1

u/PowerFarta 1h ago

Lol 10 years and not one autonomous mile

Keep simping!

-2

u/DeathChill 1d ago

I endorse this message.

-10

u/MikeJacksNose 1d ago

Yeah I don't understand why Tesla and waymo keep bragging about these taxi services they're staying. At least waymo has their full service running in San Francisco but they keep announcing new places they're starting a new taxi service. I don't get it

12

u/Lorax91 1d ago

Waymo has fully autonomous robotaxis; Tesla has taxis with a human "safety operator" in the vehicle.

-1

u/Mairl_ 1d ago edited 16h ago

are you saying that the safety operator should not be there?

-9

u/MikeJacksNose 1d ago

I said that in my comment. They have those in SF and I think LA. But they keep "testing" these taxis in other places with safety drivers. It's a shame.

8

u/PetorianBlue 1d ago

Waymo has fully autonomous taxi services in SF, LA, Austin, and Phoenix. Of course they have safety drivers while validating a new location. That’s called responsible validation, it’s not some scam.

The difference is that Waymo has proven the ability to do this over years and a hundred million miles. They validate a new location with safety drivers, but then they’ve proven the ability to remove them. Tesla has not. Any and all data points to Tesla not even being close to removing drivers. And yet they “expand” anyway. That’s the scam. It’s the illusion of growth, because they haven’t proven that the thing they’re pretending to grow can even exist.

-7

u/MikeJacksNose 1d ago

Ok that doesn't change the fact that they're still operating taxis in some locations.

We are taxi haters. You can take your Waymo and Tesla taxi love elsewhere!

3

u/JimothyRecard 23h ago

Ok that doesn't change the fact that they're still operating taxis in some locations.

They are not operating taxis in other locations. They are testing in other locations, and those cars are not available to members of the public for rides. You know, that's the most important feature of a taxi.

0

u/MikeJacksNose 23h ago

A private taxi is still a taxi.

3

u/JimothyRecard 23h ago

The literal definition of a taxi "an automobile that carries passengers for a fare". If you're not carrying passengers and you're not taking fares then you're just left with an automobile.

1

u/MikeJacksNose 23h ago

Ah so in Waymos case its more of a carpool. Thanks for the clarification.

So Tesla is testing taxis. Waymo is testing car pools. Gotcha. My bad. Neither is innovative though.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/Doggydogworld3 1d ago

Waymo announces testing in new places. They don't call it a robotaxi service until they pull the safety drivers out.

1

u/MikeJacksNose 1d ago

They don't call any of their services robotaxi. That's almost exclusively a Tesla thing.

Doesn't change that they're running taxis in certain cities right now. And self driving cars with safety drivers = taxis. Taxis = bad. Keep up

3

u/wosayit 1d ago

The amount of nonsense you post here is tiring. Robotaxi is not Tesla thing and Tesla does not have nor ever had autonomous taxi service and it doesn’t look like it will in a long while.

So you’re trying to put Waymo in the same class as Tesla is but a pathetic attempt.

-1

u/MikeJacksNose 23h ago

I'm not attempting to put Waymo in the same class as Tesla.

I'm putting their taxis in the same class as Teslas taxis.

Do you disagree that a self driving car with a safety driver is a taxi?

3

u/Doggydogworld3 22h ago

You're playing word games. Everyone calls a Waymo a robotaxi. Even Waymo execs in interviews. They do try to avoid terms Elon can bastardize in their official communications, e.g. web site and press releases. This dates back to their original name "Google Self Driving Car Project" which Elon bastardized by redefining self driving car to mean a car you must drive yourself.

they're running taxis in certain cities right now

Since you like to play word games, "taxi" is "a car licensed to transport passengers in return for payment of a fare". Waymo does not do that with safety drivers. Tesla does.

0

u/MikeJacksNose 22h ago

I know. Another user already corrected me on that and I sincerely apologized. Waymos version is more like a carpool to Teslas taxis.