Tesla's Robotaxi in Austin now runs until 11 p.m. - Musk: pets are hard to spot at night
Tesla's Robotaxi in Austin now runs an hour longer, until 11 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. Elon Musk wrote on X that the biggest challenge is keeping the cars from hitting pets, which are hard to see at night: "We're literally trying not to run over gray kittens on gray asphalt in the dark." As Electrek notes, cameras typically struggle to detect objects in low light and low contrast, and Tesla relies on cameras alone. No Tesla ever sold has had lidar, and the company removed radar from its cars in 2021. In 2019, Musk argued that anyone relying on lidar is doomed. Meanwhile, Waymo's robotaxis, equipped with cameras, lidar and radar, operate around the clock.