Tesla has received approval to launch a taxi service in California, as confirmed by a spokesperson from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Tuesday. This represents an important milestone in Tesla and CEO Elon Musk’s aspiration to establish a driverless taxi service in the state.
Musk has previously stated that Tesla owners should eventually have the ability to rent out their vehicles as autonomous substitutes for Ubers when not in use. He has indicated that current owners should be able to operate their Model 3 and Y vehicles autonomously in California within this year, although this plan confronts both technological advancements and regulatory obstacles.
Despite this permit, the reality of Tesla’s driverless taxi ambitions appears to be quite distant in California, which boasts ideal weather for self-driving vehicles but also enforces some of the most stringent regulations in the United States for their testing and operation. The issued permit does not authorize Tesla to transport passengers in fully autonomous vehicles; according to CPUC spokesperson Terrie Prosper, Tesla did not submit applications for its autonomous vehicle initiatives. Even if they had, such a permit wouldn’t be granted without first obtaining approval from another regulatory body, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), for offering driverless rides. The DMV has confirmed to WIRED that Tesla has yet to apply for the necessary permits.
The new permit permits Tesla to manage a taxi service with vehicles that have drivers, who will be employees of Tesla, as per the CPUC. Initially, the regulator notes that Tesla will restrict its service to Tesla employees on prearranged journeys, though there are plans to eventually extend services to the general public.
Tesla has not yet replied to requests for comments regarding the permit or its future autonomous initiatives in California.
Four companies, including Amazon’s Zoox, possess permits that allow them to conduct various kinds of driverless service trials in the state, although two of these companies can only provide rides with a driver in control. Presently, Waymo is the only company offering fully driverless taxi services in California. Waymo, a sibling company of Google, adopted a more deliberate and cautious approach towards self-driving service, investing over a decade transitioning from testing initial versions of its autonomous technology on public roads to operating a paid robotaxi service in Phoenix, Arizona. Today, Waymo services four cities: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin.
Tesla has shown interest in launching a driverless taxi service in Palo Alto, as reported by Palo Alto Online last year. Emails later obtained by WIRED indicate that by late October of last year, Ashok Elluswamy, head of Tesla Autopilot, was in discussions with city officials about setting up such a service. Tesla had initially sought to utilize the same permit used by another company, Via, which provided shuttle services in California. Ultimately, according to these emails, the automaker determined that it needed to submit for its own permit.
A spokesperson for the City of Palo Alto has not yet responded to inquiries regarding the potential impacts of the new permit on robotaxi initiatives in the region.
Earlier this year, Musk mentioned that Tesla aims to launch a driverless taxi service in Austin, Texas, by this coming June. (In contrast to California, Texas has less stringent regulations governing autonomous vehicle operations.) Last fall, the automaker showcased a prototype of its “Cybercab,” a two-seat, purpose-built robotaxi, which it intends to start producing in 2026.
Regardless of the developments in Texas this year, Musk and his company have already missed several deadlines. In 2019, he claimed that the automaker would have 1 million robotaxis operating by the following year.
