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YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, recently visited Austin, Texas, to film a comparison video between Tesla’s new Robotaxi service and Google’s Waymo Robotaxi.
MKBHD hasn’t released the full comparison results yet; however, in a recent video, he shared some unexpected moments from his Robotaxi test drive.
Marques specifically talked about his experience after forgetting his phone inside one of the vehicles.
He explains that during his Tesla Robotaxi trip, he had to do many things, including recording a video and taking notes to include in his final review.
To document his entire experience, Marques carried two phones and extra camera gear. Amidst all the things he had to do, he placed his iPhone on the seat and continued using his Android phone to take notes.
So far, so good; however, when the trip ended and it was time to exit the Robotaxi, MKBHD simply left his iPhone sitting in the back seat.
He mentions that if he had been using a regular Uber with a person behind the wheel, perhaps the driver would have noticed the phone and returned it to him quickly.
Still, in his case, things weren’t all bad. Although Tesla calls the newly launched ride-hailing service a “Robotaxi” service, there is still a safety driver in the passenger seat, which MKBHD was grateful about.
Knowing there was a person in the cabin, Marques then used his Apple Watch to ping his iPhone, making it emit a loud noise.
However, despite pinging the iPhone more than 20 times and displaying a number on the lock screen to call him with, the Tesla operator never responded.
This is definitely not ideal, and worried about losing his phone, Marques started tracking his iPhone via his Apple Watch and saw the phone was a few blocks away.
At this point, Marques considered running to catch the Robotaxi, but says it was 95 degrees and that the Robotaxi was six blocks away.
Here, Marques called an Uber to help him track his phone and follow the Tesla Robotaxi. To his surprise, the Uber that arrived was actually an autonomous Waymo vehicle without a driver.
He got into the Waymo and started driving toward one Robotaxi, using another Robotaxi. This is already strange. However, in the middle of his Waymo drive, MKBHD noticed that the Tesla Robotaxi had started to move and was driving back toward him.
If there had been a person behind the wheel, MKBHD could have given them instructions to follow the Tesla Robotaxi. But since it was a Waymo without a driver, he couldn’t communicate the continuous change of plan, so he simply canceled the ride.
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At this point, MKBHD was hoping the Robotaxi was returning to his original drop-off location to possibly return his phone.
Initially, the route the Tesla Robotaxi was following made it seem like that was the case, as the vehicle kept driving in that direction.
However, as he continued tracking his phone, MKBHD realized the Robotaxi went to the drop-off area but then continued past it, driving south.
At this point, he called an Uber and made sure to get a vehicle with a human driver. He then continued following his phone across the city.
Luckily, during this chase, he got a call from a Tesla employee informing him his phone had been dropped off at a Tesla service center by the safety driver.
Here, you might be wondering, instead of chasing the vehicle all over town, why didn’t MKBHD just call the Tesla Robotaxi support line to report his missing phone?
According to Marques, Tesla currently restricts participation in the Robotaxi program to invite-only members.
Tesla invited MKBHD, and he has the Robotaxi app installed on his phone, which allows him to contact Tesla support via the app.
However, in his case, even though he carried two phones, the one he forgot was the one with the Robotaxi app installed, leaving him temporarily unable to reach Tesla.
MKBHD also mentions that, since he was carrying two phones and had an Apple Watch paired to his iPhone, he was able to ping his phone and display a phone number on the lock screen so a Tesla service center employee could call him eventually.
However, Marques questions how other Robtaxi users would retrieve their belongings if they forgot their only phone inside an autonomous vehicle.
Please let me know what you think in the comments. Share your ideas by clicking the red “Add new comment” button below. Also, be sure to visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
Image: Screenshot from Marquees Brownlee’s YouTube channel
For more information, check out: Tesla Cybertruck Glue Starts to Meltdown After Exposure to the Desert Heat – Owner Says “I Drove My Cybertruck in 114°F but Still Tesla Seems to Rely Too Much on Glue”
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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Source: torquenews.com
