Tesla Motors Inc now includes self-driving hardware and software on all of it’s EVs, and this has led several entrepreneurial owners to identify a huge revenue generating opportunity – collecting Uber fares while they relax at home. However, this won’t be possible as the company has decided that it won’t allow owners to use their cars for such purposes. This may sound like a strict policy but upon further review, what the firm is saying is that they want to be your business partner. Imagine having Elon Musk as your mentor – you’ll have that opportunity very soon.
Tesla issues a strict disclaimer
No doubt, self-driving cars will bring about a huge transformation in the transportation industry, and, Musk is well aware of this fact. This is the precise reason he’s setting up an early claim to lock Tesla EVs into driving on his network only.
Tesla Motors Inc has issued a warning on its design page, clearly saying, “Using a self-driving Tesla for car sharing and ride hailing for friends and family is fine but doing so for revenue purposes will only be permissible on the Tesla Network, details of which will be released next year.”
Extreme Tech reported the Uber ban on Friday, saying when a person buys a Model S, then in a way he/she would agree to certain terms and limits. How Tesla will be able to impose the ban is not known for now, but policing problems can be expected as the amount of data exchanged between its cars and Tesla’s master motherboard is huge.
The fact that Tesla has put a ban on Uber serves as a stark reminder that Tesla is the owner of the self-driving technology, and the firm believes it has all the rights to impose limits on the usage of the technology. Whether, the firm is legally permitted to do this is not yet known.
Tesla extensively tracks your car
Tesla’s disclaimer doesn’t reveal much in the way of details, but it does suggest that owners of its electric vehicles will have the permission to use their car for Uber or Lyft, but only when the self-driving mode is not engaged.
It’s easy for Tesla Motors Inc to know what an owner is doing with his vehicle. It extensively tracks the car for the dual purpose of providing software updates and monitoring driver behavior. Last year, the EV firm sent several mails to some of its customers, asking them not to spend a lot of time recharging at Superchargers.
Speaking to New York Times, Musk revealed they had exact records of where the tested vehicle stopped, started, and how much it had been driven (and at what speeds and operating temperatures).
Meanwhile, the firm recently announced that all its new model will come with autonomous driving hardware. And, the required software will be sent once its gets the regulatory approval.
