Tesla Says It’s Building a Wheelchair-Accessible Robotaxi
Tesla Says It’s Building a Wheelchair-Accessible Robotaxi
特斯拉称正在研发轮椅无障碍自动驾驶出租车
Tesla is building a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle, a Tesla representative told lawmakers in Washington, DC, on Monday. 周一，一位特斯拉代表在华盛顿特区向立法者表示，特斯拉正在研发一款轮椅无障碍自动驾驶汽车。
“We are in development for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle,” Tesla senior policy advisor India Herdman told members of the DC City Council on Monday, during a hearing focused on a controversial bill that could allow robotaxi services to operate in the District. “We know that paratransit can be very difficult, and people who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should still be able to move around freely, so that is an active product being built by Tesla in Texas,” she said. “我们正在开发一款专门设计的轮椅无障碍自动驾驶汽车，”特斯拉高级政策顾问 India Herdman 周一在华盛顿特区议会成员面前表示。当时议会正在就一项可能允许自动驾驶出租车在特区运营的争议性法案举行听证会。“我们知道辅助交通服务（paratransit）可能非常困难，而长期依赖轮椅的人们仍应能够自由出行，因此这是特斯拉目前在德克萨斯州积极研发的一款产品，”她说。
Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment. Herdman provided no further details about when a wheelchair-accessible product might be available. The electric automaker often takes several years to manufacture its announced products. 特斯拉未回应置评请求。Herdman 没有提供关于该无障碍产品何时上市的进一步细节。这家电动汽车制造商通常需要数年时间才能将其宣布的产品投入生产。
Tesla operates a small fleet of autonomous vehicles in the Texas cities of Austin, Dallas, and Houston and, as of this month, in Miami, Florida. (It also operates a service that uses human drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area.) The limited fleet uses Tesla Model Y, a compact SUV that is not wheelchair accessible. 特斯拉在德克萨斯州的奥斯汀、达拉斯和休斯顿，以及从本月起在佛罗里达州的迈阿密运营着一支小型自动驾驶车队。（它还在旧金山湾区运营着一项由人类驾驶员提供服务的业务。）这支有限的车队使用的是特斯拉 Model Y，这是一款紧凑型 SUV，并不具备轮椅无障碍功能。
The company has started to manufacture and test a purpose-built Cybercab, meant exclusively for autonomous driving and without steering wheels or pedals. These Cybercabs are not wheelchair accessible, though Tesla highlighted in an X post this month its accessibility features, including braille lettering on controls and wheelchair-height seating to allow for easier transfers. 该公司已开始制造和测试专门设计的 Cybercab，该车型专为自动驾驶而生，没有方向盘或踏板。这些 Cybercab 并不具备轮椅无障碍功能，尽管特斯拉在本月的一篇 X 帖子中强调了其无障碍特性，包括控制装置上的盲文标识以及便于轮椅使用者转移的座椅高度。
Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, have hinted previously at a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle. The company introduced an accessibility tab in its Robotaxi app last fall, though it directs users to other wheelchair-accessible ride providers in the area, rather than to Tesla’s own service. “We are working on accessible rides,” the app says. In response to an X user’s post last fall about Tesla working on accessible rides, Musk responded, “Absolutely.” 特斯拉及其首席执行官埃隆·马斯克此前曾暗示过将推出轮椅无障碍自动驾驶汽车。该公司去年秋天在其 Robotaxi 应用程序中引入了一个无障碍选项卡，但它将用户引导至该地区其他提供轮椅无障碍服务的供应商，而非特斯拉自己的服务。“我们正在开发无障碍乘车服务，”该应用程序显示。去年秋天，针对一位 X 用户关于特斯拉开发无障碍乘车服务的帖子，马斯克回应称：“当然。”
No US robotaxi company currently offers fleetwide driverless, wheelchair-accessible rides, including market leader Waymo. At the DC hearing on Monday, Waymo regional head of state and local policy Matt Walsh said, “To date, it’s my understanding that we haven’t been able to identify a platform that is fully wheelchair-accessible while also meeting the unique specifications to retrofit that vehicle with our technology.” He continued: “Now, I don’t want that to sound like a cop-out. We are trying to find that vehicle.” 目前没有任何一家美国自动驾驶出租车公司提供全车队无人驾驶、轮椅无障碍的乘车服务，包括市场领导者 Waymo。在周一的华盛顿特区听证会上，Waymo 负责州和地方政策的区域主管 Matt Walsh 表示：“据我了解，迄今为止，我们还没能找到一个既能完全实现轮椅无障碍，又能满足将我们的技术改装到该车辆上的独特规格的平台。”他继续说道：“我不想让这听起来像是在推卸责任。我们正在努力寻找那款车辆。”
Waymo has touted the accessibility features of its newest vehicle, the Zeekr-built Ojai, including its flat floor, low step-in height, and grab bars. But it is not wheelchair accessible. Michigan-based Ann Arbor autonomous-vehicle developer May Mobility offers rides in wheelchair-accessible vehicles in some of its markets, with a human operator on board to help deploy necessary ramps. Waymo 一直在宣传其最新车型——由极氪（Zeekr）制造的 Ojai 的无障碍功能，包括平坦的地板、较低的踏板高度和扶手。但它并不具备轮椅无障碍功能。总部位于密歇根州安娜堡的自动驾驶汽车开发商 May Mobility 在其部分市场提供轮椅无障碍车辆乘车服务，并配有随车操作员协助部署必要的坡道。
The Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in transportation services and requires reasonable modifications to provide equal access. Some but not all US cities require ride-hailing companies to provide wheelchair-accessible services. Many of those companies provide those rides through partnerships with specialized fleets made up of wheelchair-accessible vehicles. 《美国残疾人法案》禁止在交通服务中歧视残疾人，并要求进行合理的调整以提供平等的准入机会。美国部分（而非全部）城市要求网约车公司提供轮椅无障碍服务。许多此类公司通过与由轮椅无障碍车辆组成的专业车队合作来提供这些乘车服务。
In September 2025, the US Department of Justice sued Uber for “refusing to reasonably modify its policies, practices, or procedures where necessary to avoid discriminating against riders with disabilities.” The case is being litigated. 2025 年 9 月，美国司法部起诉 Uber，指控其“拒绝在必要时合理修改其政策、做法或程序，以避免歧视残疾乘客”。该案件目前正在诉讼中。
General Motors’ Cruise introduced a prototype wheelchair-accessible driverless taxi in 2023 and said it intended to roll out the vehicle in its self-driving car service in 2024. But following a collision with a pedestrian, Cruise all but halted national service in 2023. The next year, General Motors stopped funding its self-driving unit entirely. 通用汽车旗下的 Cruise 在 2023 年推出了一款轮椅无障碍无人驾驶出租车原型，并表示打算在 2024 年将其投入到自动驾驶汽车服务中。但在发生一起与行人的碰撞事故后，Cruise 在 2023 年几乎停止了全国范围内的服务。次年，通用汽车完全停止了对其自动驾驶部门的注资。