Dubai government has received 50 new Tesla electric cars with self-driving capabilities, which will be a part of the Dubai Taxi Corporation fleet. The Tesla Taxis were received by the officials on 17th September.
The directive of adding tesla to the taxi fleet was issued by the Vise President and Prime Minister of UAE, Shaikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum who being the ruler of Dubai took this initiative in an attempt to make Dubai stand in the list of top cities of the world.
The initiative is a mirror image of the Dubai Smart Autonomous Mobility Strategy, which targets to reinvent the mode of traveling by transforming 25% of the trips into driverless journeys by 2030. The tesla models X and S carry a full self-driving hardware system, which provides greater safety than human drivers.
Ahmed bin Saeed marks official deployment of 50 Tesla electric vehicles to #Dubai Taxi Corporation fleet pic.twitter.com/ArpdMhLrAH
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) September 17, 2017
The presentation of receiving Tesla taxis took place at Dubai International Airport and was graced by a handful of reputable officers including President of Dubai Civil Aviation, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline Shaikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Makhtoum, Director General and Chairman of the board of executive directors of RTA Mattar Al Tayyar and Chief Executive Officer of Dubai airport Paul Griffiths.
Al Tayyar said, “The RTA has recently taken delivery of 50 Tesla vehicles as part of a deal for 200 vehicles signed last February on the sidelines of the World Government Summit 2017. Accordingly, 75 vehicles will be supplied in 2018, and 75 others to be delivered in 2019.”
At the end of the ceremony, Shaikh Ahmed and Al Tayyar took one of the vehicles for a short ride.
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