Uber CEO signals major problems with Tesla’s robotaxi plan

adze (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has big dreams for the future of taxis, but it seems not everyone in the ride-sharing industry sees his vision.

After Musk recently revealed that Tesla is close to unveiling its fleet of self-driving vehicles called robotaxis, which are set to be a major competitor to ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says he is skeptical of the initiative.

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In the latest podcast episode of “The Logan Bartlett Show,” Khosrowshahi claimed that Tesla’s robotaxi plan, which will allow Tesla owners to rent out their vehicles for use as driverless taxis for a profit, would might not get the thumbs up from Tesla owners.

He said it’s “not clear” to him that the average Tesla owner will want their car “to be driven by a complete stranger.”

He also said that allowing Tesla owners to rent out their cars for taxi services will make it difficult to manage the “peaks and valleys” associated with supply and demand.

“It just so happens that the times when you’re going to want the Tesla are probably going to be the same times that ridership is going to be at its peak,” Khosrowshahi said.

Dara Khosrowshahi, March 11, 2024, in Austin, Texas.

Samantha Burkardt/Getty Images

Khosrowshahi also revealed during the interview that he is skeptical of society’s acceptance of driverless vehicles due to safety concerns and how humans are more accepting of human driver mistakes than robots, which may pose a challenge to robotaxis.

“Logic would dictate that if robots are twice as good drivers or three times as good as humans, that’s good for future society, but I honestly don’t know if society is ready to accept that,” Khosrowshahi said.

The CEO also pointed out that the rideshare industry is “very” different from the business of building vehicles, which Tesla has experience in, and that a lot can go wrong, such as car accidents, passengers getting sick or getting lost items in cars or wanting you to pay in cash.

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He said Uber has already figured out how to handle these challenges and hopes to work with Tesla in the future to develop a ride-sharing service.

“We had to learn to build a system that could make everything work for both the pilot and the driver with an economy that works,” Khosrowshahi said. “It took us 15 years, it took us tens of billions of dollars of capital, and we can give that instantly to a partner, and hopefully Tesla will be one of those partners, you never know.”

Tesla’s Robotaxi faces delays

The criticism from Khosrowshahi comes after Musk revealed in a post on X on July 15 that the unveiling of Tesla’s robotaxi vehicle would be delayed due to a “major design change” after it was originally expected on August 8. debuts sometime in October.

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During Tesla’s July 24 earnings call, Musk said that his robotaxi service, which will be available through the Tesla app, will be the equivalent of an “Airbnb on wheels,” as the fleet will consist of both Tesla-owned robotaxis and from Tesla vehicles. owners who choose to participate in the program.

“So you can think of it as a little bit like Airbnb, like you can choose to allow your car to be used by the fleet or cancel it and bring it back,” Musk said. “It will be used by the fleet all the time, it may be used by the fleet part of the time, and then Tesla will take a portion of the revenue with the customer.”

Musk also claimed that Tesla’s first robotaxi “will be able to operate 24/7, unlike human drivers” and could “eventually” be on the road by the end of this year.

“I would be shocked if we can’t do that next year,” Musk said.

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