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Tesla launched its RobotTaxi service in Dallas last week.
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A 34-year-old Dallas resident said he waited hours for a ride.
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Chris Ramos said the only time he felt unsafe was when the robotaxi was roaming the highway.
Robottaxis officially hit the streets of Dallas last week. Their arrival gave an enthusiastic commuter a glimpse into both the promise – and limitations – of autonomous driving.
Chris Ramos, a 34-year-old accounts payable supervisor, told Business Insider that he rushed to try Tesla’s service on Saturday after seeing posts saying it was live online. The launch comes after Tesla launched a similar driverless service in Austin in January, about 10 months after Wamo launched service there.
Initial reactions to Tesla’s robotaxis have been mixed, with some riders praising the smooth, futuristic experience while others report errors, confusion in traffic and the need for human intervention. More broadly, public skepticism remains high, with many people still wary of safety and hesitant to trust fully autonomous vehicles.
“I was excited to be at that frontier of technology,” Ramos said.
But boundaries can be unpredictable—and sometimes a bit erratic.
Tesla’s robotics operates within virtual accepted limits. Ramos went to a designated service area and attempted to request a ride through the Tesla Robotaxis app. It showed that no vehicle came repeatedly for about two hours. He called Tesla customer support, and a representative told him that service had not started in the area.
“I was like, ‘Man, so I’m wasting my time? I should go home?’
Two hours later, Ramos hailed a robotaxi from a nearby Bank of America parking lot. He said the car handled city driving with ease, although it had some difficulty reading signals, such as failing to realize it could turn right at a red light.
He said that the journey took a turn after the vehicle left the exit and entered the highway.
He said that traffic is moving at a rate of 80 to 90 miles per hour. At first, the robotaxy began to accelerate to keep up with the other cars, until, suddenly, it began to slow down, as if it was preparing to pull over. That’s when Ramos said he started to feel unsafe.
“We’ve had cars fly by. You don’t pull over on the highway unless it’s like a super emergency or something,” he said.
He said a Tesla representative appeared to have taken control of the car and was driving it in the “slow lane” until it was steered off the highway.
From there, the ride continued – and so did the plot twists. The car missed its final destination, took him to the wrong location, and then got stuck while circling a hotel before support proceeded to redirect it.
“I’ve been to that hotel about five times,” he said. “In the same loop, going over the same speed bumps.”
Ramos said at one point, the car tried to drop him off about 2.6 miles from his final destination before taking him to the correct location.
The trip covered about 11 miles and took 54 minutes. That cost about $18, compared to Ramos’ previous $16, three-mile Waymo ride in Dallas.
His Final Verdict: Despite the hiccups, it’s a fun ride for risk-takers. She wouldn’t recommend it to grandma.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment about Ramos’ trip, sent outside normal business hours.
“I’ll see people post that everything on X is innocent, there’s nothing wrong,” Ramos said. “I wanted to see if I could find any flaws in the system — any room for improvement.”
The bumpy ride didn’t dampen his long-term expectations for the technology.
“I think the future is autonomous,” he said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
