Tesla Driverless Taxi Service

Nolen Cooper, Reporter

Tesla is developing a new chip for driverless car systems that Elon Musk predicts will spawn a fleet of Tesla taxis that will drive themselves.

“Driverless taxis would be amazing, but computers can not adapt to every situation,” freshman Nolan Gera said.

Many cars today include driver assistance, but still require humans to monitor, and be prepared to take control. Tesla has been working on a computer chip that would allow their cars to drive without a person in the driver seat.

“It would be cool, but who would charge them? If they ran out of juice, would they be able to contact the owner and find a way to get power?” freshman Delanie Mcdaniel said.

The chip would be installed in all new model Teslas and could potentially be installed in old models as well. The software will be available to download and get updates through over the air networking once ready and tested properly.

“It’s very cool, but only few people will be able to afford the full self driving option, and taxi companies may not want to spend all that money,” freshman Bella Schlueter said.

Tesla plans on having over one million robotaxis in operation by 2020, and if all oes as announced owners of Tesla vehicles will be able to add their vehicle to a Tesla rideshare app, a feature Musk claims could earn owners over $30,000 a year.

Tesla has yet to announce an official timeline for the ride sharing service but Musk claimed to New York Times it would be available sometime next year.