Tesla wants to offer full self-driving using only on-board cameras, which would impact the ease of use of the brand’s robotaxis. They do not work at night because of the high risk of encountering pets, which contrast with the dark asphalt.
Image source: Unsplash, Emmeli M
A Tesla robo-taxi service in Austin, the capital of Texas, has been operating for more than a year; more recently, the local mid-sized taxi fleet was equipped with dual-network taxis designed specifically for these tasks, without steering wheels or pedals. When X appears on the service’s social networking page this week announcement Regarding the extension of passenger service hours from 22 hours to 23 hours, many potential customers expressed mixed feelings and regretted not having the opportunity to take driverless taxis at night.
Elon Musk joined the discussion and explained that the company is working on solving the problem of reliably identifying objects in low-light conditions, which are typical of streets at night. “The main issue we’re trying to solve is making sure we don’t run over pets that are hard to see at night. We’re literally avoiding gray kittens on gray asphalt in the dark.” – explained the company official.
Ironically, as pointed out ElektrekWhen Robotaxi service launched in Austin in June 2025, the service operated from 6 a.m. to midnight, but later stopped serving customers at 10 p.m. Robotaxi shifts were extended by another hour this week, but are actually reduced from what they will be in June 2025.
If Tesla electric cars were equipped with lidar as a sensor that can determine the shape, size and distance of objects in poor visibility, there would be no problem identifying gray kittens on asphalt. However, Musk has repeatedly publicly opposed the introduction of lidar into Tesla’s proprietary Autopilot sensor system, and over time he even eliminated additional ultrasonic sensors to save money. This brand of electric vehicles mainly relies on machine vision systems and camera data when operating under automatic control conditions.
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