This Tesla Just Delivered Itself With No Driver

With the advent of self-driving cars, it’s only a matter of time before a vehicle drives itself right to its new owner’s doorstep after purchase. And that time is now as Tesla has announced that it has completed its first driverless vehicle delivery in Texas. The car? A brand-new, fresh off the Gigafactory Texas Tesla Model Y.

Announced on X, Elon Musk says that the fully autonomous Model Y drove off from Tesla’s factory in Austin to the customer’s home across town, which included a stint on the highway. Even better, it was completed a day ahead of its supposed schedule, and Musk promised that a video of the self-delivering Model Y would be posted soon, so that’s something to look forward to.

The Self-Delivering Model Y Reached Highway Speeds

Naturally, the driverless vehicle’s owner, named Jose, shared his excitement on the same social media platform, complete with photos of the silver Model Y that he received at home. According to his profile, Jose is located in Austin, Texas, while the Gigafactory Texas where the EV drove off was around 30 minutes away if it took the long route that involves a toll road, according to Google Maps.

Ashok Elluswamy, the head of Tesla AI, which is one of the teams responsible for the incredible feat, said in a post that the autonomous Model Y reached a top speed of 72 mph. It’s likely that the electric SUV has been installed with Tesla’s unreleased Unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, which isn’t legal for public use (for now). There’s a huge chance that the Model Y will roll back to the latest FSD version, which requires the presence of a driver to operate.

Expect More Self-Driving Teslas In Texas

Tesla’s latest milestone happened just days after it launched its Robotaxi service in Texas on June 22. However, it was not as it was intended to, because not a single Cybercab was involved in the supposed futuristic service. Instead, the initial Robotaxis are self-driving Tesla Model Ys with paid human occupants, who are there to monitor the situation at all times. It wasn’t ideal, though, as some of these Robotaxis might have violated some traffic laws, which the feds are already looking into.

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This might change soon as regulators have started to become more lenient with self-driving vehicles. Days before the Tesla Robotaxi’s implementation, the NHTSA changed its tune when it comes to its approval of driverless cars without human controls. That said, it’s only a matter of time before the real Cybercab, the one without a steering wheel and driving pedals, will hit the streets.