San Jose startup unveils first consumer-focused fully autonomous car
San Jose startup unveils first consumer-focused fully autonomous car
A Bay Area startup says it plans to bring the world?s first fully autonomous vehicle designed for personal ownership directly to consumers. Tensor, a San Jose-based company, unveiled its "Robocar," which it touts as the first Level 4 self-driving car marketed for private use. Unlike Tesla and other automakers whose vehicles feature partial automation, Tensor?s Robocar is designed to operate without a driver in the seat.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A Bay Area startup says it plans to bring the world’s first fully autonomous vehicle designed for personal ownership directly to consumers.
Tensor, a San Jose-based company, unveiled its "Robocar," which it touts as the first Level 4 self-driving car marketed for private use. Unlike Tesla and other automakers whose vehicles feature partial automation, Tensor’s Robocar is designed to operate without a driver in the seat.
"It’s pretty magical, you know this has been almost 10 years in the making," said Hugo Fozzati, Tensor’s chief business officer, who added that the car was engineered with advanced AI to operate. "So now that you’re not needing to focus on the road, you can focus on yourself, you can focus on Netflix. You can focus on doing work."
While industry analysts call the rollout a milestone in the autonomous vehicle market, they note that automakers offering cars like this will have to take on added responsibility for safety and liability.
"With vehicles that you and I drive, if we get into a crash, we’re responsible," said Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry. "When software is driving the vehicle, the company that created that has to take responsibility for that."
That liability risk, combined with expensive manufacturing, could drive up the cost of the car. Tensor has not yet released pricing details.
The Robocar is equipped with advanced sensors, screens that can double as side mirrors, and a feature that makes the steering wheel disappear in full self-driving mode.
"You press the level 4 button and the steering wheel goes away," said Fozzati. "And you really have more space."
The company expects to release the vehicle in the second half of 2026.
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