Tesla obtained a permit to operate a taxi service in California, a spokesman for California Public Utilities Commission, a state regulator, said on Tuesday. He marks the first step towards Tesla‘S and CEO Elon Musk‘s vision of Operating a driver -free taxi service in the state.
One day, said Musk, the owners of Tesla should be able to rent their cars kind of autonomous ubers while they do not use them. He said that current owners should be able to exploit their models 3 and independently in the state later this year – a plan that faces technological and regulatory obstacles.
But despite the license, the future of Tesla driverless taxi still seems far away in California, which has the Perfect climate for autonomous cars But some of the strictest regulatory requirements in the United States to test and exploit them. The license does not allow Tesla to transport passengers to driver -free cars; CPUC spokesperson Prosper said that the electric manufacturer has not applied for its autonomous vehicle programs. Tesla would not obtain such a permit in any case, because he must first receive the authorization of another regulator of the State, the Ministry of Automobile Services, to offer driver -free rides. (The DMV confirmed to Wired that Tesla did not apply for the necessary permits.)
The new license allows Tesla to operate a taxi service including vehicles with drivers, which will be Tesla employees, according to the CPUC. Initially, says the regulator, Tesla will use the permit to take only Tesla employees during pre-animated trips, although it plans to take walks to public members.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the license or her future driver -free plans in California.
Four companies, including the Amazon zoox, Permit allowing them to manage a kind of driver -free service pilot in the state, although two of these companies are only allowed to offer journeys with a driver behind the wheel. Only Waymo uses driverless taxis in California. Sister Google, which has adopted a longer and more cautious approach to autonomous service, has spent more than a decade going from the first versions of its driver -free technology on public roads to the management of a Robotaxi service paid in Phoenix, Arizona. Today, Waymo exploits service in four cities: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin.
Tesla explored the launch of a driver -free taxi service in at least Palo Alto, Palo Alto Online reported for the first time last year. The emails obtained by Wired show that, at the end of October of last year, the head of the Auto pilot of Tesla, Ashok Elluswamy, negotiated with the municipal council and the staff members on the way of carrying out such a service. Tesla had hoped to be launched by taking charge of the same permit used by another company, via, which provided shuttle services in California. Finally, according to emails, the automaker concluded that he had to request his own license.
A spokesperson for the city of Palo Alto did not immediately answer questions about how the new license could affect Robotaxi’s plans in the region.
Musk said earlier this year that Tesla planned to launch a driver -free taxi service in Austin, Texas, next June. (Unlike California, Texas has no strict rules around autonomous vehicle operations.) Last fall, the automaker showed a prototype of his “cybercab”, A two -seater Robotaxi and specially designed, which he said that he would begin to produce in 2026.
Whatever happens to Texas this year, Musk and his business have already missed some deadlines. In 2019, he said that the automaker would have 1 million robotaxis on the road By the following year.
