Musk explains why Tesla Robotaxi is not running at night, and lidar is the answer

This story is about Tesla's robotaxi service, not home energy upgrades, so it won't affect your house or any rebate plans. Still, here's what happened: Tesla extended its Austin robotaxi service by one hour, from a 10 PM to an 11 PM cutoff. Elon Musk said the limiting factor on running later is that the cars' cameras struggle to spot pets in low light and low contrast, using the example of "grey kittens on grey tarmac."

The detail worth knowing is why that's a problem at all. Tesla's cars rely only on cameras, which need light and contrast to see objects. Other self-driving companies, like Waymo, also use lidar (a sensor that bounces laser pulses off objects to map their 3D shape) and radar, which work the same in the dark as in daylight. Waymo's vehicles run 24 hours a day partly because of this. Musk has argued for years that lidar is unnecessary, even as Tesla now says nighttime animal detection is its main obstacle to longer robotaxi hours.

None of this changes anything for homeowners directly. It's a consumer tech and transportation story about how Tesla's robotaxi service operates, tied to debates over self-driving sensor technology. If you're simply curious about EVs or autonomous vehicles, it's worth knowing the service still closes earlier than it did at its 2025 launch, when rides ran until midnight.