Michigan man travels to Texas to take 50 Tesla Robotaxi rides and it doesn't all go smoothly

Tesla Robotaxi testing drew a Michigan man all the way to Texas, where YouTuber Dirty Tesla set out to take 50 rides and document the experience.

His goal was to see how far the EV maker’s autonomous tech has come, and how much work still needs to be done.

What he found was a mix of impressive capabilities and minor flaws.

While some moments highlighted real progress, others revealed that the system may need some polishing before being rolled out globally.

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The Tesla Robotaxi was fully capable of driving itself

The Tesla Robotaxi pilot program is currently invite-only, and YouTuber Dirty Tesla is part of a select group of people able to test the brand’s latest offering.

On the positive side, the Tesla Robotaxi demonstrated behaviors that outperformed even human drivers in some situations.

In one instance, the vehicle pulled safely to the side of the road to allow an ambulance to pass, which is something even a nearby Cybertruck, driven by a human, failed to do in time.

The YouTuber noted that this kind of emergency response is something even current Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta vehicles struggle with.

The Robotaxi also showed impressive awareness around pedestrians and cyclists.

Unlike many self-driving systems that either slow down too abruptly or not enough, Tesla’s Robotaxi consistently adjusted its speed smoothly and appropriately.

Throughout most of his rides, brand employees were present in the vehicles for safety reasons, but the YouTuber said they rarely intervened.

In almost every ride, the Robotaxi handled navigation entirely on its own.

Minor problems continue to plague the experience

However, he also encountered some problems during his rides, which isn’t uncommon.

For example, the passenger option to immediately end the ride didn’t perform as advertised.

When the YouTuber used it, the Robotaxi pulled into a left turn lane, parked, and told him to exit safely.

With traffic moving around him, it was clearly not a safe place to get out.

The supervising employee had to step in to resolve the issue before the car continued to its destination.

Other flaws emerged as well. The Robotaxi struggled with certain turns, often positioning itself too close to obstacles even when there was ample space elsewhere.

In one alarming case, the vehicle actually made contact with a parked car while maneuvering, highlighting ongoing issues with spatial judgment.

Despite these hiccups, the YouTuber remained optimistic.

He emphasized that while the system isn’t perfect, most of the issues he experienced were more inconvenient than dangerous.

He also noted that the fact he could find so many flaws in just a few rides likely means Tesla will be able to fix them quickly as development continues.

For now, the Robotaxi is promising, but full autonomy may not be ready yet.

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