Tesla says it’s building a wheelchair-accessible robotaxi

Tesla is building Wheelchair accessible Autonomous vehicleA Tesla representative told lawmakers in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

“We are developing a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible self-driving vehicle,” India Herdman, a senior policy advisor at Tesla, told D.C. City Council members on Monday, during a hearing focused on a controversial bill that could allow robotaxi services to operate in the area. “We know that paratransiting can be very difficult, and people who are permanently confined to wheelchairs must still be able to move freely, so this is an active product that Tesla is building in Texas,” she said.

Tesla He did not respond to a request for comment. Herdman did not provide any further details about when the wheelchair-accessible product might be available. It often takes several years for an electric car maker to manufacture its announced products.

Tesla operates a Small fleet to Autonomous vehicles In Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Texas, and in Miami, Florida, starting this month. (She too It runs a service that uses human drivers In the San Francisco Bay Area.) The limited fleet uses the Tesla Model Y, a compact SUV that is not wheelchair accessible.

The company began manufacturing and testing a device designed for this purpose Electronic taxiintended exclusively for autonomous driving and without steering wheels or pedals. These cybertaxis are not wheelchair accessible, Tesla cars notwithstanding It was highlighted in X’s post This month features accessibility, including Braille lettering on controls and wheelchair height seating to allow for easier transfers.

Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have previously hinted at a wheelchair-accessible self-driving vehicle. The company introduced an accessibility tab in its Robotaxi app last fall, though it directs users to other wheelchair-accessible ride providers in the area, rather than Tesla’s own service. “We work to provide accessible rides,” the app says. In response to User X mail Last fall, regarding Tesla’s work on accessible rides, Musk He responded“Absolutely.”

No U.S. company currently offers driverless, wheelchair-accessible, fleet-wide robo-taxis, including market leader Waymo. At the hearing in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Matt Walsh, Waymo’s head of country and regional policy, said: “To date, my understanding is that we have not been able to identify a platform that is fully wheelchair accessible while meeting the unique specifications for updating that vehicle with our technology.” He continued: “Now, I don’t want it to look like a retreat. We are trying to find that car.”

Waymo has touted the accessibility features of its latest vehicles, the Bani Zakir Oh yesi, including flat floor, low height and grab bars. But it is not wheelchair accessible. May Mobility, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based autonomous vehicle developer, offers rides in wheelchair-accessible vehicles in some of its markets, with a human operator on board to help deploy the necessary ramps.

The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in transportation services and requires reasonable modifications to provide equal access. Some, but not all, U.S. cities require ride-hailing companies to provide wheelchair-accessible services. Many of these companies provide these trips through partnerships with specialized fleets of wheelchair accessible vehicles.

In September 2025, the US Department of Justice File a lawsuit against Uber “for refusing to reasonably modify its policies, practices, or procedures when necessary to avoid discrimination against passengers with disabilities.” The case is under litigation.

General Motors introduced the Cruze A A prototype of a driverless, wheelchair-accessible taxi In 2023, it said it intends to put the car in self-driving car service in 2024. But after… Collision with a pedestrianCruise ceased national service in 2023. The following year, General Motors It stopped funding its fully self-driving unit.