12,961 Tesla FSD Supervised Miles, Zero Interventions & Unsupervised Robotaxis in Austin
This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk are joined by their first-ever guest, David Moss, to discuss his 12,961-mile zero-intervention drive across the country on Tesla FSD, the reality of the Unsupervised Robotaxi rollout in Austin, and the commercial viability of LiDAR sensors in consumer vehicles.
The conversation heats up as Walt questions David, a LiDAR LiDAR Salesman on whether the massive data processing requirements of LiDAR could introduce latency, potentially citing a recent Waymo incident involving a child as a case study. David argues that while LiDAR offers theoretical range advantages, the compute wall and cost constraints make it a one-trick pony compared to the scalability of a vision-only stack.
While the group debates sensor suites, David shares his on-the-ground experience in Austin, revealing it took 58 attempts to finally secure a ride in a Unsupervised Tesla Robotaxi, and confirmed the fleet is being retrofitted with new cleaning jets for the camera sensors to handle weather occlusion.
Looking at the broader robotaxi market, the trio analyzes their Zoox experiences at CES, with David noting the vehicle’s braking was significantly harsher than Waymo or Tesla FSD, while Walt highlights the motion sickness challenges inherent in the vehicle’s carriage-style seating configuration.
In Prediction Corner, the group debates the timeline for Tesla removing the safety driver on highways, with David offering a bullish forecast for Memorial Day, while Walt and Grayson take a more conservative stance, predicting a rollout closer to late 2026.
Read the Full Episode Transcript
Episode Chapters
- 0:00 Coast to Coast Fully Autonomous in a Tesla Model 3
- 10:49 The Next Record
- 12:16 FSD Unsupervised in Austin
- 16:16 Waymo Experience on Uber in Austin
- 17:17 Robotaxi Safety Attendants
- 19:44 Unsupervised Robotaxi Service Area
- 21:43 Sensor Cleaning
- 26:05 Robotaxi, No Highways in Austin, Yet
- 32:11 Zoox Las Vegas Experiences
- 37:13 LiDAR
- 48:07 Why Autonomy
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