Episode 513: Tesla Robotaxis Get Ready in Austin

Ride the Lightning: Tesla Motors Unofficial Podcast

Ryan McCaffrey

Elon, Leisure, Teslaroadster, Ev, Teslamodels, Roadster, Model3, Teslamodel3, Teslamodeliii, Tesla, Automotive, Bev, Gigafactory, Business News, Cars, Teslamotors, Modely, Cybertruck, Modelx, Electric, Elonmusk, Models, News, Electriccars, Teslamodelx, Semi

4.8 • 988 Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’ve got a reported date for the first driverless robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, along with a long-ago autonomy forecast that might finally be on the cusp of coming true. Plus: Tesla’s letting you take a two-day test drive of any car you like, Rivian takes a big step towards the R2 going into full production, and more!

If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support my efforts, please check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/teslapodcast and consider a monthly pledge. Every little bit helps and there are stacking bonuses in it for you at each pledge level, like early access to each episode at the $5 tier and the weekly Lightning Round bonus mini-episode (AND the early access!) at the $10 tier! And NO ADS at every tier!

And don't forget to leave a message on the Ride the Lightning hotline anytime with a question, comment, or discussion topic for next week's show! The toll-free number to call or Skype is 1-888-989-8752.

CHECK OUT COOL NEW WHEELS FOR YOUR TESLA: Get The New Aero's beautiful and aero-efficient wheels designed for Teslas by Tesla owners at www.TNAwheels.com and use the discount code TeslaPodcast for a 10% discount.

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P.S. Get 15% off your first order of awesome aftermarket Tesla accessories at AbstractOcean.com by using the code RTLpodcast at checkout. Grab the SnapPlate front license plate bracket for any Tesla at https://everyamp.com/RTL/ (don't forget the coupon code RTL too!).

Transcript

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0:00.0	On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, we've got a reported
0:05.2	date for the first driverless robotaxie rides in Austin, Texas, along with a long ago
0:11.5	autonomy forecast that might finally be on the cusp of coming true. Plus, Tesla's letting
0:17.6	you take a two-day test drive of any car you'd like.
0:21.5	Rivian takes a big step towards the R2 going into full production and more. What's happening,
0:47.4	It's your weekly Tesla and EV podcast.
0:51.5	This is your 513th weekly episode. This one's publishing on June 1st, 2025. I'm recording it here in the evening of May 30th, 2025. Daisy the Boxer is to my left, and somewhere elsewhere in the house, not in this room where I'm recording, is mine of the future service dog and Lily
1:12.4	the silly Labrador puppy. So hopefully they will keep their shenanigans to an audible minimum.
1:20.3	And I can just get this podcast done without any crazy dog sounds in the background.
1:26.0	Well, starting off with some fun news this week,
1:29.0	a number of you probably already got this email from Tesla, but in case you hadn't heard,
1:34.6	Tesla is currently offering 48-hour test drives of anything you want. Now, obviously, of course,
1:43.4	Tesla's trying to sell cars here, but hey, what
1:47.1	better way to do that than to just let you take it home and live with it for a night or
1:52.5	two? Because as we all know, that's a very different experience than you simply taking it
1:59.0	out for 30 minutes near the Tesla store, basically 15 minutes out,
2:03.6	15 minutes back. And so this is a great excuse for plenty of you to go out and try the new Model Y,
2:10.6	I'm sure, I'm sure a lot of you will be doing that. But honestly, if I may, I would personally
2:16.6	recommend that all of you go test drive the cyber truck.
2:20.4	Even if you have no intention of buying it, just go check it out so that you can get the steer by wire experience.
2:28.0	I mean, you've heard me gush about the steer by wire experience a million times, so I'm not going to bog down the top of this podcast
2:34.8	by doing it again. But it's really a trip and it's super cool tech that is much better experienced
	...

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