A passenger said his Tesla robotaxi missed a turn and tried to pull over on the highway

• Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Dallas last week.

• A 34-year-old Dallas resident said he waited hours for a ride.

• Chris Ramos said the only time he felt unsafe was when the robotaxi changed direction on the highway.

Robotaxis officially hit the streets of Dallas last week. Their arrival gave an enthusiastic traveler the opportunity to see both the promises and limitations of autonomous driving.

Accounts payable executive Chris Ramos, 34, told Business Insider he was rushing to try it. Tesla’s service After seeing posts online on Saturday saying there was a live stream. The launch comes after Tesla launched a similar self-driving application Service in Austin In January, about 10 months after Waymo launched service there.

Initial reactions to Tesla’s robotaxi were mixed; While some drivers praised the seamless, futuristic experience, others reported glitches, traffic confusion, and the need for human intervention. More generally, public skepticism remains high, with many people still wary of safety and hesitant to trust fully autonomous vehicles.

“I was excited to be at this frontier of this technology,” Ramos said.

But borders can be unpredictable and sometimes there may be some hiccups.

Tesla’s robotaxis operate within a virtual approved limit. Ramos went to a designated service area and tried to ask for a ride in the Tesla. Robotaxi application. No vehicles were shown nearby repeatedly for nearly two hours. She called Tesla customer support and a representative told her that the service was not launched in the region.

“‘Oh man, so am I wasting my time? Should I go home?’ I thought.”

Two hours later, Ramos took a robotaxi from the nearby Bank of America parking lot. He said the car handled city driving smoothly, although it had some difficulties reading signals, such as not realizing it could turn right at a red light.

He said the trip took a turn when the vehicle missed an exit and entered the highway.

Traffic was going 80 to 90 miles per hour, he said. The robotaxi initially began to accelerate to catch up with other cars, until it suddenly began to slow down, as if preparing to pull over. That’s when Ramos said he started feeling unsafe.

“There are cars flying past us. You can’t pull over on the highway unless it’s a dire emergency or something,” he said.

He said a Tesla representative took over the car and moved it in the “slow lane” until it got off the highway.

From there the journey continued and the plot also changed. The car missed its final destination, taking it to the wrong location and then getting stuck around a hotel before support intervened to redirect it.

“I walked around that hotel about five times,” he said. “Going over the same speed bumps in the same loop.”

Ramos said at one point the car tried to drop him off about 2.6 miles from his final destination before returning him to the correct spot.

The trip covered approximately 11 miles and took 54 minutes. It cost Ramos $18, compared to his previous three-mile cost of $16. Waymo ride in Dallas.

Final verdict: Despite the hiccups, it’s a fun ride for those who like to take risks. He wouldn’t recommend this to his grandmother.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment about Ramos’ trip, sent outside normal business hours.

“I’ll see posts from people saying everything is perfect on X, there are no bugs,” Ramos said. “I wanted to see if there were any flaws in the system, any room for improvement.”

This bumpy ride hasn’t dampened his long-term prospects for the technology.

“I think the future is autonomous,” he said.

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