Tesla self-driving manager describes scary conditions in robotaxi testing

A former Tesla manager who ran the company's self-driving test fleet in Houston has filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit describing conditions he calls dangerous. Javier Medrano says he became the sole manager overseeing 38 test vehicles running around the clock, far above Tesla's own safety limit of 15 vehicles per manager. He says the workload left him and test drivers exhausted, working 60 to 80 hours a week. In March 2025, one of the test vehicles hit a pedestrian at 2 a.m., and Medrano says he was so sleep-deprived when he got the emergency call that he gave unsafe guidance while essentially asleep. Tesla fired him weeks later and, according to the suit, then split his job among three people.

This isn't about a specific car or feature you'd buy, but it touches on the safety testing behind Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" system and the driverless Robotaxi service the company launched in Houston and Dallas. The lawsuit's claims are unproven and represent one side of the story, with Tesla not commenting. If true, they suggest the testing program feeding into that robotaxi rollout was thinly staffed at a critical stage.

For homeowners, this is really just a data point on how much oversight has gone into the self-driving technology showing up in more cities. It doesn't change any home energy program or rebate, but it's relevant if you're weighing how much to trust these systems as they expand.