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Tesla's Robotaxi project in Austin is much smaller than Musk claims

Zorkmid123 | 2025-12-22 21:44 | 518 views

Comments (65)
ObviousCommonSense 2025-12-22 21:54

Between **1 and 5 cars**, all with human drivers. The main reason they're not using more cars than that is to minimize the number of crashes (they're already at 9 crashes since June, despite each car having a human safety driver that catches 95% of critical issues). We can draw two conclusions here: * The number of miles driven by the Austin fleet as reported by Tesla is a gross exaggeration. * This is not a "pilot" being run for testing purposes. **It's all purely for show**. There's nothing you can learn with 1-5 cars with (whitelisted) passengers that you couldn't learn from private testing. This is all a dummy show designed to dupe Tesla investors. Potemkin robotaxis.

lothar74 2025-12-22 21:54

Shocker that Elmo is making grandiose claims that are not even remotely based in reality, the news media will repeat and amplify, there will be no consequences, and TSLA will likely go up 7% on this news.

ShortFatStupid666 2025-12-22 21:57

I bet that’s not the only thing that is smaller than he claims…

ShortFatStupid666 2025-12-22 21:58

So Tesla branded Pig Butchering…

North-Outside-5815 2025-12-22 22:09

It also doesn’t work, due to Elmo’s decisions.

Engunnear 2025-12-22 22:09

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that most things for which fElon claims a size are smaller than what he says.

ATX_native 2025-12-22 22:11

I guess it’s legal as long as you have lotsa money.

Engunnear 2025-12-22 22:12

My only qualm with what you said is that you called TSLA shareholders “investors”.  They’re sheep who only see the stonk price going up, and think they have a sure thing because they know absolutely nothing about fundamentals of investing.

ATX_native 2025-12-22 22:13

His foreplay involves NDAs and sample tracking numbers.

PervyTurtle0 2025-12-22 22:14

Not the only thing thats smaller than he claims

Andy_Fish_Gill 2025-12-22 22:14

Tesla is today’s Enron or Theranos.

Big_footed_hobbit 2025-12-22 22:19

So they can boast a small number of incidents compared to the competitors and the stock will soar +100%

BringBackUsenet 2025-12-22 22:19

They are gamblers playint the Greater Fool Game just waiting around to see who blinks first.

BringBackUsenet 2025-12-22 22:20

This shit makes those people look like pickpockets.

lovely_sombrero 2025-12-22 22:46

>Between 1 and 5 cars, all with human drivers. That makes sense. From a PR perspective, there is no real difference between 5 non-robotaxi Robotaxis and 30 non-robotaxi Robotaxis. It is the same fraud, just cheaper and simpler to run.

Soft_Maximum_3730 2025-12-22 22:54

Totally agree. Yet didn’t he promise 500 by end of year? Also half the country being served by end of year but who’s counting

lovely_sombrero 2025-12-22 22:56

Also 1 million Robotaxis on the road by the end of 2020.

SillyFez 2025-12-22 22:56

Tesla has a reputation for overblowing things. That being said, we should take sources like electrek and Teslarati with a huge grain of salt. The former has a very strong anti Tesla bias and the latter has a very strong pro Tesla bias. I wish mods would ban these sites. A 19 year old student's app isn't a peer reviewed paper or top tier investigative journalism. Not saying he's wrong, it's just not trustworthy without additional vetting.

Engunnear 2025-12-22 23:08

I put the people doing that in the same bucket as anyone willing to short TSLA. They may get lucky, but they probably won’t.

VitaminPb 2025-12-22 23:15

To be fair, if you objectively observe and look at what Elon Musk and Tesla claim vs. do and you don’t have a negative bias towards them, then you don’t have the capability to reason and your opinion is actually not based in reality and must be discounted.

BringBackUsenet 2025-12-22 23:16

I won't even attempt to predict the tipping point that will cause TSLA's inevitable implosion.

South-Play-2866 2025-12-22 23:55

That means the stock is going to go much higher than its actual value 😂

daveo18 2025-12-22 23:56

Like Musk’s deformed penis, the Austin “robotaxi” is all pump and no substance

eclwires 2025-12-23 00:16

So’s his virility. Why on earth would anyone take anything that clown says seriously?

slick2hold 2025-12-23 00:22

This guy had the audacity to come out and say they didn't have any impact from power issue in SF. There are about 10 robotaxis in SF. Not really 10 but an insignificant number compared to waymo. What a joke he is. I don't blame anyone except us. We created a monster. We provided the mean and Elon played the game and won. All his business have the gov as the main client. Think about this next time he mentions DOGE.

Syscrush 2025-12-23 00:35

And you bought yourself the opportunity to fire everyone who should be investigating your crimes.

brintoul 2025-12-23 00:51

I don’t think so. I know some in person. They ACTUALLY BELIEVE Musk is “the man”. I shit you not.

BringBackUsenet 2025-12-23 00:55

Are they also flat earthers?

brintoul 2025-12-23 00:55

Unfortunately, no.

TechnicianExtreme200 2025-12-23 01:14

They were also manually driven, so of course they didn't have problems with the power outage. One person reported their robotaxi had an issue with the first disabled traffic light and was driven manually the rest of the ride. Furthermore, of the 10 or whatever in SF, most wouldn't have even been in the areas affected by the outage, whereas Waymo probably had dozens if not hundreds of cars in thos eareas.

ArQ7777 2025-12-23 01:54

If it is deformed, he wouldn't have 12 kids.

readit145 2025-12-23 01:56

The difference is less margin for error. It only takes one. Just like it did. For people to go gaga all over again.

k7u25496 2025-12-23 02:40

*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev/home)* violet tease merciful reach school squeal history imminent smell tidy

your_fathers_beard 2025-12-23 03:10

Enron Musk at it again.

Jaguarmadillo 2025-12-23 03:14

The most awful thing is the grift could continue for decades. There’s literally no bad news for the tesler fans - everything is just another pump at this point

BringBackUsenet 2025-12-23 03:22

The stock is now detached from Musk and the company. It's turned into tulipmania. People are buying it like they do crypto, purely a speculative instrument. Reminds of of the pyramid parties of the 70s. A lot of people made a lot of money, until they didn't!

torokunai 2025-12-23 04:54

https://www.amazon.com/BNYD-Turkey-Baster/dp/B01GQSTK1O

Many-Manufacturer867 2025-12-23 05:55

My pearls, he’s a fraud?!

ShortFatStupid666 2025-12-23 06:09

And Robots And Artificial Insertion

ShortFatStupid666 2025-12-23 06:11

He will divert attention to the nearby Boring Hole

xMagnis 2025-12-23 10:15

But he gets away with it again. The dishonesty should cause immediate shame and everyone should know and laugh at him. But other than the occasional true article everyone else just goes along with the lies, again and again.

tuctrohs 2025-12-23 12:22

Going to? That happened quite a few years ago.

TheBlackUnicorn 2025-12-23 13:35

> I don't doubt that Tesla will eventually figure FSD & robotaxi's. I do doubt that. The only way that Tesla will ever figure out FSD and Robotaxis is if Waymo or Baidu agree to sell them the technology.

[deleted] 2025-12-23 14:01

You should educate yourself on AI models. And what sensors do

k7u25496 2025-12-23 16:42

*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev/home)* stupendous sharp desert outgoing lavish wide offer badge growth cows

paulstanners 2025-12-23 17:15

There are zero robotaxis in SF. There are 10 Teslas driven by Tesla employees à la a micro-Uber...

admin_default 2025-12-23 18:02

I’d love to a see a similar analysis of their SF operation. Just like Austin, reports are saying that service is constantly unavailable.

Sufficient-Pie-7815 2025-12-23 18:58

Musk is a showman! A carnival barker! A hoax!

0o0o0o0o0o0z 2025-12-23 19:57

Key Promises & Reality Check (2025): Early 2025: Musk claimed over 1 million robotaxis would be on the road in 2025. Mid-2025 (June): A small pilot with about 10 vehicles launched in Austin, with promises of rapid scaling. Late 2025 (Nov/Dec): Announcements mentioned a goal of 1,500 in key cities like Austin and Bay Area, but actual fleets remained small (around 30-60 in Austin), with a significant shortfall from targets. Reality: The Austin fleet grew slowly, still requiring human safety monitors, despite Musk's claims of imminent driverless operation. The Pattern: Musk has a history of overpromising, with robotaxi targets repeatedly missed, from 2020 to 2024, and again for 2025, with current numbers far below past pronouncements, though development continues. *-via Gemini*. So in layman's terms, Musk is a pathological liar and Tesla's only real product is the stock itself.

torokunai 2025-12-23 20:16

yup, the current $1.52T market cap requires FSD to be just hard enough that only Elon's generational genius can solve it this decade, but no harder.

ObservationalHumor 2025-12-23 20:37

There's a few layers of this going on I think. When it comes to the app download and service accepting riders it just effectively doesn't exist and was an announcement largely for PR and stock price reasons to claim a major milestone was hit and appear to be closer to launching a wider service area than the company really is. As to mileage and testing they're likely still racking up miles and doing testing, it's just with passengerless service or employees who are under strict NDAs. Obviously things get even more ridiculous when you look at their human driven ride share service in San Francisco. They're still way behind in terms of progress and deliverable product and just padding stats to make the service look way more mature and competitive than it actually is at this point. Pretty much everything is being done for the sole purpose of generating hype amongst their shareholders and keeping the ridiculous valuation the company currently has intact. Elon Musk's super power isn't his intelligence or leadership ability, it's his magically ability to continuously engage in fraud for the past decade and some how avoid any substantial penalty or real prosecution.

D74248 2025-12-24 04:28

> Waymo has basically figured it out. Waymo is a long way from driving through a construction zone while snow is falling.

dtyamada 2025-12-24 07:26

>The point is optics That is all the cult cares about, optics.

alochmar 2025-12-24 09:56

Checking and following up on statements is a forgotten art, apparently. Post nonsense, get clicks, job done.

dtyamada 2025-12-24 15:05

I think he counts the san francisco 'taxis on fsd' as robotaxis for that count.

nlaak 2025-12-24 20:00

> If it is deformed, he wouldn't have 12 kids. Regardless of whether or not you believe the deformed rumor, what is widely disseminated and believed is that many (most?) of the kids were conceived via IVF. One of his daughters has gone public with that info.

nlaak 2025-12-24 20:05

>You should educate yourself on what words mean. Right back at you. >Did I say tesla will do it with its current hardware? No, I didn't. Tesla is taking an approach that will invalidate all of their work if they eventually switch to using appropriate sensors. > Waymo has basically figured it out. Yes, using appropriate equipment. >Ya'll are in denial if you don't think everyone else will get there eventually too. Of course someone will, but it's a fundamentally impossible problem with a couple of low res cameras. Weather alone will ensure that. >There will probably be a working open source version in 10-15 years. Lol, no. Way before that will happen the government will need to crack down on what's allowed on the roads, to deal with the millions of lawsuits, if for no other reason. Eventually, NHTSA will have certification testing to validate claims by manufacturers.

k7u25496 2025-12-24 22:59

*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev/home)* humorous sharp seemly relieved merciful act literate whole license different

KPplumbingBob 2025-12-25 11:54

"Bad person so bodyshaming ok".

ShortFatStupid666 2025-12-25 16:13

He has no shame… Somebody has to do it for him

Anstigmat 2025-12-26 01:35

The way Tesla is being run, I genuinely believe they will never figure it out. As far as I can tell Elon has no interest in Tesla beyond a platform for vaporware. They built a very popular EV, which is laudable. Everything since the model Y has been downright embarrassing. I think Elon is on drugs, had a psychotic break, and is surrounded by yes men who benefit from his bullshit. Everything to do with Robotaxis is entirely jazz hands. FSD can be both impressive and also incredibly dangerous. Nothing they’ve done has shown they’re anywhere close to fixing the incredibly dangerous part of the system.

KPplumbingBob 2025-12-26 17:12

Except all you are doing is shaming others who have nothing to do with him. It's not like Elmo is reading this sub.

ShortFatStupid666 2025-12-26 17:24

Ok. You have a nice day.

neonmantis 2025-12-29 16:22

This is a feature of capitalism. Profits over everything

neonmantis 2025-12-29 16:25

> I just said they will eventually figure it out. yeah but its kinda redundent when the expectation all vehicles will end up with this tech and their will be plenty of suppliers or companies they could buy to bring it in house. I don't think their current approach will work but of course they could just buy or license a working system.

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