Tesla · India · Elon Musk · Wired
Tesla Confirms It’s Building a Wheelchair-Accessible Robotaxi
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Tesla is building a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle, a Tesla representative told lawmakers in Washington, DC, on Monday.
Key facts
- General Motors’ Cruise introduced a prototype wheelchair-accessible driverless taxi in 2023 and said it intended to roll out the vehicle in its self-driving car service in 2024
- In September 2025, the US Department of Justice sued Uber for “refusing to reasonably modify its policies, practices, or procedures where necessary to avoid discriminating against riders with disabilities
- But following a collision with a pedestrian, Cruise all but halted national service in 2023
- We are in development for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle,” Tesla senior policy advisor India Herdman told members of the DC City Council on Monday, during a hearing
Summary
“We are in development for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle,” Tesla senior policy advisor India Herdman told members of the DC City Council on Monday, during a hearing focused on a controversial bill that could allow robotaxi services to operate in the District. Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment. Tesla operates a small fleet of autonomous vehicles in the Texas cities of Austin, Dallas, and Houston and, as of this month, in Miami, Florida. (It also operates a service that uses human drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area.) The limited fleet uses Tesla Model Y, a compact SUV that is not wheelchair accessible. The company has started to manufacture and test a purpose-built Cybercab, meant exclusively for autonomous driving and without steering wheels or pedals.