Tesla celebrated a historic first on Friday when a new Model Y left the factory in Austin and—without anyone in the vehicle—drove itself to a waiting customer a half-hour away.
Since this is completely unsupervised full-self driving (FSD) in its first-ever practical application for the brand, Tesla uploaded a video as proof. It documents from various angles the roughly 30-minute drive from the Austin factory to 1515 S. Lamar Blvd. downtown, where its new owner took possession.
Whether this delivery is just a one-off test or part of a broader plan to revamp distribution remains unclear. While it might in theory save on at least part of the $1,390 destination fee Tesla charges, it risks scratching or denting the vehicle in transit—or even just arriving at the customer dirty, looking like it had just been through a rainstorm.
Lastly, regulations on the ground could make it outright illegal as state governments currently determine under what conditions autonomous vehicles, if at all, can drive on their roads.
In the case of Austin, for example, city officials told Fortune they had no say in what Musk’s company did.
“Tesla made the City aware of their intent to deliver a fully autonomous vehicle,” a spokesman for the Texas state capital said. “While the City does not have the authority to regulate these vehicles, we will continue to work with the company to provide feedback if public safety issues arise.”
The autonomous delivery also elicited skepticism as to whether Tesla might be misleading people into believing the technology is more robust than it really is. Some pointed to the fact the video was not livestreamed, but rather uploaded later.
In addition, the robotaxi service that began operation in Austin on Sunday still only operates during certain hours, does not drive to the airport, and features a safety monitor in the front passenger seat at all times.
Moreover, the timing is advantageous, as Musk has been attempting to shift investor focus towards the rollout of his robotaxi technology and away from its struggling core business of selling EVs.
While a few skeptics are bound to remain mistrustful no matter what, the suspicion is rooted in part in experience.
Nearly nine years ago, Tesla posted a similar demonstration when it released the “Paint It Black” video. It claimed that a vehicle was driving entirely on its own and the human behind the wheel was not even there to monitor for safety.
“The person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons,” it stated in the video posted in October 2016. “He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.”
Nope. Literally chose a random customer who ordered a Model Y in the Austin area. Vehicle is exactly the same as every Model Y produced in the Tesla factory.
Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment from Fortune.
