Tesla Says It’s Building a Wheelchair-Accessible Robotaxi

Tesla is building a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle, a Tesla typical told lawmakers successful Washington, DC, connected Monday.

“We are successful improvement for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle,” Tesla elder argumentation advisor India Herdman told members of the DC City Council connected Monday, during a proceeding focused connected a arguable measure that could let robotaxi services to run successful the District. “We cognize that paratransit tin beryllium precise difficult, and radical who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should inactive beryllium capable to determination astir freely, truthful that is an progressive merchandise being built by Tesla successful Texas,” she said.

Tesla didn’t respond to a petition for comment. Herdman provided nary further details astir erstwhile a wheelchair-accessible merchandise mightiness beryllium available. The electrical automaker often takes respective years to manufacture its announced products.

Tesla operates a tiny fleet of autonomous vehicles successful the Texas cities of Austin, Dallas, and Houston and, arsenic of this month, successful Miami, Florida. (It besides operates a work that uses quality drivers successful the San Francisco Bay Area.) The constricted fleet uses Tesla Model Y, a compact SUV that is not wheelchair accessible.

The institution has started to manufacture and trial a purpose-built Cybercab, meant exclusively for autonomous driving and without steering wheels oregon pedals. These Cybercabs are not wheelchair accessible, though Tesla highlighted successful an X station this period its accessibility features, including braille lettering connected controls and wheelchair-height seating to let for easier transfers.

Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, person hinted antecedently astatine a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle. The institution introduced an accessibility tab successful its Robotaxi app past fall, though it directs users to different wheelchair-accessible thrust providers successful the area, alternatively than to Tesla’s ain service. “We are moving connected accessible rides,” the app says. In effect to an X user’s station past autumn astir Tesla moving connected accessible rides, Musk responded, “Absolutely.”

No US robotaxi institution presently offers fleetwide driverless, wheelchair-accessible rides, including marketplace person Waymo. At the DC proceeding connected Monday, Waymo determination caput of authorities and section argumentation Matt Walsh said, “To date, it’s my knowing that we haven’t been capable to place a level that is afloat wheelchair-accessible portion besides gathering the unsocial specifications to retrofit that conveyance with our technology.” He continued: “Now, I don’t privation that to dependable similar a cop-out. We are trying to find that vehicle.”

Waymo has touted the accessibility features of its newest vehicle, the Zeekr-built Ojai, including its level floor, debased step-in height, and drawback bars. But it is not wheelchair accessible. Michigan-based Ann Arbor autonomous-vehicle developer May Mobility offers rides successful wheelchair-accessible vehicles successful immoderate of its markets, with a quality relation connected committee to assistance deploy indispensable ramps.

The Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits favoritism against radical with disabilities successful proscription services and requires tenable modifications to supply adjacent access. Some but not each US cities necessitate ride-hailing companies to supply wheelchair-accessible services. Many of those companies supply those rides done partnerships with specialized fleets made up of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

In September 2025, the US Department of Justice sued Uber for “refusing to reasonably modify its policies, practices, oregon procedures wherever indispensable to debar discriminating against riders with disabilities.” The lawsuit is being litigated.

General Motors’ Cruise introduced a prototype wheelchair-accessible driverless taxi successful 2023 and said it intended to rotation retired the conveyance successful its self-driving car work successful 2024. But pursuing a collision with a pedestrian, Cruise each but halted nationalist work successful 2023. The adjacent year, General Motors stopped backing its self-driving portion entirely.