August 25, 2025 - Tensor Wants To Sell Robocars To Consumers

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for August 25, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research for Telemetry.

Last week, a new company emerged from stealth mode in Silicon Valley to announce it wants to sell robocars to consumers. Tensor Auto is a mysterious company that hasn't revealed anything about its investors although the trademark appears to be owned by AutoX. AutoX is a Chinese automated driving system developer that has also done development and testing in California. In January 2025, the US government finalized a ban on connected and automated vehicle hardware and software from China and Russia, which has prompted some companies to separate their US business units. Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is reportedly trying to purchase the US assets of Pony AI, and AutoX appears to be spinning off Tensor. 

Unlike most companies in the automated driving sector that are focused on robotaxis, transit or long-haul freight, Tensor has shown a sedan that it claims to want to sell to the public. However, unlike Tesla, which is offering consumers a camera-only system that it promises will eventually deliver fully automated driving capability, Tensor is following the approach of other companies like Waymo, Zoox and AutoX. 

The sedan it has unveiled is bristling with dozens of sensors, including five rotating lidar sensors, 17 17MP cameras, six imaging radar sensors, four microphones, high-precision GNSS, and a compute platform powered by eight Nvidia Thor SoCs. The specifications seem to go well beyond what any other company is doing currently and will not come cheap. Tensor apparently has a deal with Vinfast to build the vehicles in Vietnam and plans to offer the car globally. 

While it's good to see a company acknowledge it needs multiple sensor types and software layers to create a robust automated driving system, the specs claimed by Tensor all seem too good to be true. A vehicle like this is likely to cost well over $200,000, and that's before we even consider the design. People might be willing to ride a robotaxi with all of these sensors, but most people probably wouldn't want to own one. Tensor is targeting customer deliveries in late 2026, but I wouldn't hold my breath. 

Thanks for listening.