Teslas could sense when they are dirty and clean up during Cybercab service
After largely disclosing how its ride-share Cybercab fleet will operate, Tesla is now giving a sneak peek into the mundane detail of how the standalone Robotaxi or other fleet vehicles will remain clean and fresh for new customers.
During the Annual Stockholder Meeting where Elon Musk got his $56 billion pay package approved, Tesla's CEO divulged some intriguing details about its upcoming ride-share service.
Apparently, Tesla will own and operate the Cybercab platform, taking a cut from each ride to maintain it, like Uber.
The core fleet will consist of Tesla-owned cars, including the upcoming Robotaxi about to be unveiled in August.
Any Tesla owner, however, will be able to leverage their vehicle's FSD driver assist capability to "loan" the car to the Cybercab fleet for any duration of time they choose, from a few hours to a few weeks or months.
In those cases it might be the owner's responsibility to clean their car, but for other fleet members like the autonomous Robotaxi Tesla had to think of alternative ways to maintain vehicle hygiene.
It did by apparently patenting a self-cleaning system for a vehicle interior that uses multiple approaches - from steam to UV light - in order to clean and disinfect driverless cars:
- Environmental detection through various sensors: detecting temperature, humidity, presence of pathogens, etc.
- Customized sanitation routines: generating appropriate sanitation routines based on detected environmental conditions.
- Various sanitation methods: utilizing HVAC systems, UV lighting, steam generators, etc.
- Automated processes: automatically executing sanitation processes when people are absent.
- Adaptive system: adjusting sanitation methods considering external weather, vehicle usage history, etc.
With this patent, Tesla has laid out precisely how it intends to approach the cleaning of the Robotaxi interior when the need arises.
Evidently, the Cybercab fleet won't require cleaning of the vehicles between passenger sessions, just as other ride-share services don't.
The cars, however, may use new or existing sensors, as well as weather and usage patterns, in order to decide what and when to apply to keep themselves in a proper state without requiring expensive human input.