Two California agencies, the DMV and the CPUC, have not heard from Tesla regarding their plans for robotaxis, despite Elon Musk’s announcement of a new robotaxi product in August. Tesla has not applied for the permits needed to operate a driverless car service in California, raising questions about how quickly they can get their robotaxi service running. Only three companies have the highest-level permit in California for deploying autonomous vehicles without human drivers, while Tesla currently has the lowest-level permit for testing autonomous vehicles with human drivers present.
The CPUC handles permits to operate robotaxis as businesses, and Tesla has no CPUC permit and has not applied for one. Waymo, a spinoff of Google, took eight months to get their initial CPUC permit to operate a robotaxi business that could charge fares. It is possible that Tesla’s timeline for approval could be shorter or longer than eight months, or they may not get approved at all. Tesla’s approach to self-driving technology differs from companies like Waymo and Cruise, as Tesla has relied less on expensive hardware and deployed driver assistance systems nationwide, while focusing less on mastering small geographic areas.
Each state handles robotaxi regulation differently, and it’s possible Tesla could seek to launch a service without California, but it would mean cutting out a major market as they were the No. 2 seller of new cars in the state last year. Musk teased the announcement of a Tesla Robotaxi on August 8, boosting the company’s stock price on Wall Street. Musk has talked about a robotaxi service for years, including plans to launch a fleet of leased Tesla vehicles or a service with decentralized ownership where Tesla owners could rent out their cars for fares.
Tesla may need authorization from various states or localities to operate a nationwide robotaxi fleet, and in Arizona, Waymo and Cruise have permits to operate as transportation network companies. Cruise halted operations nationwide last year following a safety incident in San Francisco. Amazon subsidiary Zoox has authorization from Nevada to operate a robotaxi service, but Tesla has not begun the certification process in Nevada. Tesla has a rocky relationship with California regulators, as they were accused of deceptive practices around the marketing of their driver assistance systems in 2022. An administrative hearing in that matter is scheduled for September.
