At the Tesla Cyber Rodeo, Elon Musk mentioned, “There’s going to be a dedicated robotaxi that is going to look quite futuristic-looking.” Then, within the latest earnings name, he briefly mentioned the “futuristic” robotaxi. He declined to present particulars, however instructed us that they plan to do a robotaxi occasion of some variety subsequent 12 months. He additionally added, “We are aiming for volume production in 2024.”
That’s all that we actually know for certain proper now, sadly, however there’s hypothesis that it may appear to be this “People Mover” sketch that’s related to Boring tunnels.
Concept drawing courtesy of Tesla
I noticed a variety of Tesla homeowners, buyers, and followers questioning the need of a specialised robotaxi mannequin. After all, Teslas going again a number of years are presupposed to have the {hardware} essential to act as autonomous automobiles. With all of these automobiles, particularly the leased Model 3 automobiles that haven’t any buy choice at finish of lease (and the identical with each different Tesla mannequin going ahead), Tesla may simply give you a bunch of taxis without having to construct automobiles only for that function, they’re saying.
But, in my expertise doing rideshare driving in 2018–2019, I can inform readers a number of issues that make a particular robotaxi mannequin a necessity.
Carrying Strangers Around Is Hard On A Car
After doing a couple of 12 months of full-time rideshare work, my Nissan LEAF had seen higher days. During that point, I placed on about 40,000 miles and the automobile wasn’t left in nearly as good a situation as different 2018 LEAFs that weren’t used for this.
Vehicle put on and tear is an enormous one. Sure, an EV wants much less upkeep, however that doesn’t imply it’s by no means going to wear down. I put the battery pack by way of over 300 DC quick charging periods, and since Nissan didn’t put a cooling system on the LEAF, and since this 12 months included a summer season in Phoenix, Arizona, the battery misplaced over 10% of its authentic vary. Tesla automobiles aren’t going to see this sort of degradation this rapidly, however we additionally need to understand that a robotaxi doesn’t need to cease to eat, sleep, or have a household life.
It’s cheap to imagine {that a} robotaxi would most likely drive 80,000 or extra miles per 12 months, and probably nicely over 100,000.
There’s extra mechanical put on and tear exterior the batteries and drive models. CV axles, suspensions, tires and wheels, bearings, and plenty of different issues each automobile (electrical or gasoline) have will undergo accelerated put on as a robotaxi. Service {that a} regular automobile solely wants each few years may occur each few months.
Then, there’s the passenger-facing techniques. My LEAF has a worn out energy door lock within the door that passengers bought into probably the most. The seats? They don’t look too good, and even when they have been leather-based, they’d most likely be extra worn than common. I’ve a USB charging port that retains attempting to return out from individuals plugging and unplugging. I’ve two door handles which are attempting to return off. I needed to substitute the 12-volt battery after solely two years. The cargo space? It has a variety of scratches from individuals loading and unloading suitcases at Sky Harbor.
So, in actuality, the automobile continues to be pretty new, however it’s unusually tough. And, I took breaks as a result of I’m a human and wish sleep. And, I used to be there to kick individuals out who weren’t behaving (one violent passenger solely left as a result of he was afraid of getting shot), hand drunk individuals a bucket to puke in, and do different issues to watch and deal with the automobile.
Let’s speak about puke for a minute. Even in a automobile with leather-based seats (I’ve executed rideshare in a Chevy Volt with leather-based seats), it’s an enormous ache to scrub up and do away with the odor. Carpets, seat belts, seat belt clickers, the areas between cushions, door handles, and generally even the ceiling wanted thorough cleansing.
Building A Car That Can Handle All This
Taking inventory Model 3s and placing them by way of all of this abuse may find yourself being costly. There’d be an uncommon quantity of restore work simply to maintain a automobile on the street and acceptable to passengers for two–3 years. But, Tesla may deal with all this with both a specialised mannequin or by upfitting/retrofitting used Teslas that come off lease.
The battery techniques will most likely want some minor upgrading for retrofitting taxis, maybe by upgrading the cooling system a bit. For a specialised fashions, it could be a good suggestion to go along with a battery chemistry like LiFePO4 or LFP (the Stans typically name these “iron” batteries, however you’re going nowhere with out the lithium and phosphate), as a result of they’d degrade loads much less below this sort of abuse. They couldn’t go as quick or as far on a cost, however they’d work high quality for a taxi and final loads longer. They could even simply swap packs to LiFePo in the event that they wished to improve an present off-lease Model 3.
Upgrading different issues, just like the suspension, can be an important concept. For instance, upgrading the shocks to one thing that may last more can be a good suggestion. I’d go away this as much as the skilled engineers, however it could be a good suggestion to work on upgrading every thing to last more and stand as much as extra abuse.
The inside is also simplified and constructed extra for “hosing out,” like a police automobile. This would most likely look rather less luxurious, however it may very well be executed tastefully and in a method that’s aesthetically pleasing with some effort. When the inevitable puke, pee, and different bodily fluid mishaps happen, whoever cleans these items out would have loads much less hassle if they may spray the entire thing out after which dry it. Upgraded door handles, plugs, and the rest passengers use would additionally go a good distance.
One different factor? There had higher be some form of in-car monitoring. People aren’t going to be completely happy in any respect in the event that they summon a robotaxi and it reveals up with a large number inside it or some freshly-broken factor. I don’t know if this may very well be automated, however it is likely to be a good suggestion to have the vehicles cease in a number of instances a day for an inspection and cleanup.
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