Tesla shows off its first fully autonomous delivery to convince us its self-driving cars work well

Tesla’s robotaxi service may have had some early hitches, but the company said it just successfully delivered a car autonomously. Using the same robotaxi technology, Tesla showed the delivery process of a Model Y from its Gigafactory Texas in Austin to a customer with a roughly 30-minute journey as seen in a video posted on X. Unlike the robotaxi service launch last week, the automated delivery had no safety monitor, nor anyone behind the wheel. Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, also posted on X that the delivery didn’t have any “remote operators in control at any point.”

The trip covers navigating through everything from the Gigafactory Texas’ parking lot to city streets, even managing to handle the highway without any incidents. This delivery comes just after Tesla’s rollout of its robotaxi service in Austin, with Musk promising that the “first Tesla that drives itself from factory end of line all the way to a customer house is June 28.” While impressive, it’s not the first time that a fully autonomous car has used the highway, since Waymo started allowing its employees access to self-driving rides on Los Angeles freeways earlier this year.

Tesla’s competing robotaxi service hasn’t been without its hiccups. As seen in a 10-mile trip posted on X, the Model Y using the robotaxi software struggled to make a left turn and corrected its course by entering the other side of the road briefly. In another launch day video, the robotaxi was seen braking hard twice after encountering police cars with their lights on, even though none of the emergency vehicles were on the road. The robotaxi pilot program has caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which said that it reached out to Tesla for more information about these incidents. On top of the robotaxi concerns, recent demonstrations showed Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software failing to stop for a school bus’ flashing lights and stop signs, as well as for kid-sized mannequins who dart into the road.