Tesla has successfully completed the world’s first autonomous delivery of a vehicle in which the car drove itself to its new owner’s place, marking a groundbreaking moment for autonomous vehicle technology.
The Tesla Model Y started the journey from the company’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, to a customer’s home which was about 30 minutes away – all without a driver behind the wheel.
A first in self-driving tech
The 30-minute journey was captured in a video released by Tesla on Saturday. The footage filmed from the back seat shows the electric vehicle (EV) expertly navigating highways, intersections, traffic signals, and city streets entirely on its own.
The car also strictly followed the traffic rules, executed smooth turns, and responded to signals and stop signs with no human intervention.
The Model Y parked itself under the owner’s building at the end of the journey.
The milestone event was shared widely online, with Tesla first releasing a three-minute time-lapse teaser, followed by a full 30-minute video on Saturday.
Tesla CEO celebrates the milestone
Elon Musk reacted to the milestone on X (formerly twitter) with a one word response “Kapow!”.
In a follow-up post, he wrote, “There were no people in the car at all and no remote operators in control at any point. FULLY autonomous!” He added, “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fully autonomous drive with no people in the car or remotely operating the car on a public highway.”
A success after some disruptions
Earlier, on June 22, Tesla’s testing of its long-awaited robotaxi in Austin had a shaky beginning. Videos taken by passengers showed Tesla’s Model Y vehicles braking suddenly, speeding, conducting improper drop-offs, entering the wrong lane and driving over a curb, according to Reuters.
Musk had hinted at both the robotaxi launch and the self-driving delivery earlier this month on X. He revealed that Tesla plans to have millions of robotaxis on the road in the future.
Musk also wants Tesla to manufacture a lot of Optimus humanoid robots to boost the company’s growth as EV sales are slowing in places like North America and Europe.