Problem
Level five autonomous vehicles (full Batmobile) are not yet legal in any jurisdiction and the path toward building regulatory confidence and eventually approval is not clear.
Solution
Tesla Copilot: A dedicated remote driver that oversees the level five autonomous vehicle, intervening if necessary, with teleoperation (like military drones) facilitated by real-time software and Premium Connectivity.
Insights
- Drivers could be similar to Uber but with the added benefits of
- working from home
- no dependency on their vehicles
- Sixteen states do not require the operator to be in the vehicle while driving, meaning remote drivers could satisfy the legal requirements in those jurisdictions, according to the IIHS
- In ten states it depends on the vehicle’s level of autonomy
Full disclosure, I’m a Tesla investor.