Tesla is preparing its API for the future Robotaxi by introducing two new features that were discovered within the coding. These features suggest that Tesla is working towards a ride-sharing service similar to Uber or Lyft, as they include Passenger Ratings and a Guest Mode. The Guest Mode will limit certain features for borrowers of the vehicle, akin to the functionality implemented by Uber and Lyft years ago to allow drivers to decline certain passengers.
Passenger Ratings and Guest Mode are designed to encourage good behavior from riders and discourage actions such as being loud, obnoxious, or causing damage inside the vehicle. Riders with lower scores may face restricted access to certain features. There are hopes that these measures will ultimately deter theft and vandalism inside the vehicles.
The Whole Mars Catalog was the first to notice and share a screenshot of the Tesla API coding, which included a reference to a “rider_quality_score” within the “/users/me” API endpoint. This discovery raises questions about the purpose of this feature. It is logical for Tesla to use such measures to potentially regulate riders’ behavior, considering that not everyone may be a suitable passenger for a Robotaxi.
This functionality serves to restrict certain features based on a rider’s quality score. It will be intriguing to see how else Tesla plans to limit access with the Robotaxi rollout.