Tesla seeks Autopilot “vehicle operators” in Australia in step towards Full Self Driving

Last month, Tesla started hiring “ADAS Test Operators” outside of in Europe for what was believed to be the first expansion of the Full Self Driving (FSD) Autopilot suite outside of North America.

Now the leader in full-self-driving technology is hiring for “Vehicle Operator” roles in Australia. These roles were originally advertised over the weekend but were taken off the careers page by Sunday.

The four roles on offer were spread right across the country in four different states: 

• Fortitude Valley, Queensland
• Alexandria, New South Wales
• Mulgrave, Victoria
• Osborne Park, Western Australia

The job description of these roles touched on the collection of data and improving “Tesla’s Autopilot system” locally in Australia: 

“We are looking for highly motivated self-starters to help accelerate vehicle level data collection. The Vehicle Operator will help drive improvement of Tesla’s Autopilot system by operating and becoming an expert on our data collection vehicles across designated regions. This role requires a high level of flexibility.”

This could be the first step into looking at enhancing the autopilot suite here in Australia in preparation of the mass rollout of the FSD software available across the broader fleet. 

That’s of course for those that have purchased the FSD suite which currently is being offered for $10,100 in Australia with the purchase of a new Tesla Model 3 or Model Y vehicle.

In the US, the FSD capability can also be accessed via a subscription of $US199 per month.

Less than a month ago, “Test Operator” roles were advertised in Europe in various countries including Finland, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Italy, Turkiye, Austria, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.

Of these countries, UK is a right-hand-drive too which was a positive sign that Tesla is considering FSD training in both left and right-hand-drive markets.

It’s still early days for FSD rollout in right-hand-drive markets as the approval process for this software outside of the US is still in its infancy. 

Having said that, as the Beta version gets rolled out, improvements are being noticed by drivers on each software iteration that is being released in the US.

Recently on The Driven podcast, Tony Seba, who correctly predicted the rise of EVs over a decade ago, said that automated, or self-driving will take over, and will usher in a new phenomenon known as Transport as a Service (TaaS).

TaaS would mean that electric automated vehicles like vehicles with Teslas FSD will make up a bulk of the fleets in our cities as car ownership becomes an aspirational thing of the past.

With hiring for Autopilot “Vehicle Operators” for Autopilot commencing in Europe first and then here in Australia, Tesla’s autonomous driving program is starting to take off in markets outside of the US. This could have tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles on our roads in the coming years.