Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Palo Alto city leaders are in discussions with Tesla to explore the possibility of bringing the carmaker’s newly unveiled robotaxi service to local streets, local media reported on Tuesday.
Two weeks ago, the company led by Elon Musk unveiled a Robotaxi and a Robovan model with no pedals nor steering wheel and the company’s Engineering headquarter is located in the city of Palo Alto.
At the We, Robot event — which was held on October 10 — Musk said the unsupervised Full Self Driving (FSD) will launch next year in California and Texas starting with the Model 3 and the Model Y.
As the city evaluates the future of its existing rideshare program, the city spokesperson Meghan Horrigan-Taylor told the publication Palo Alto Online that preliminary talks have taken place.
The potential deal with Tesla could help offset these financial pressures by introducing autonomous vehicles into the city’s transport network, according to her.
However, Horrigan-Taylor emphasized that any such move would require approval from the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulate autonomous vehicle operations in the state.
“They also assess the safety and readiness of autonomous vehicles for public roads,” Horrigan-Taylor noted.
The production of the “Cybercab” will start in 2026 and be priced below $30,000 and Tesla presented it as the “premium point-to-point transportation”.
Tesla will report its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday after the market close with analysts and shareholders expecting more updates on Tesla’s AI roadmap.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
