Tesla in Talks with Austin on Autonomous Vehicle Deployment

Investing.com -- Tesla Inc. is in the early stages of discussions with the city of Austin regarding the potential deployment of autonomous vehicle technology on Texas roads. These discussions are part of Tesla's plans to introduce its driverless technology in the state as soon as next year.

Public records reveal that a Tesla employee has been in communication with Austin's autonomous vehicle task force since at least May of this year. The talks aim to establish safety expectations for the vehicles while evaluating whether Austin will be the first city in Texas to see the deployment of Tesla's driverless fleets.

In an email sent in November, the Tesla employee indicated that the company has not yet decided which city in Texas will see the initial deployment. The email stated, "The city of Austin is clearly on our roadmap, but we have many options, so a decision on where to deploy first has not yet been made."

In October, Tesla unveiled a prototype of its long-anticipated driverless, pedal-less vehicle, the Cybercab, at a Hollywood robotaxi event. CEO Elon Musk also mentioned plans to offer an "unsupervised version" of driver assistance technology in California and Texas next year. However, the event led many investors to seek more clarification on timelines and Tesla's strategy for transitioning from advanced driver assistance features to fully autonomous vehicles.

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