California’s push toward a driverless future has taken another leap forward after Tesla on Tuesday received the first in a series of approvals required to launch a promised robotaxi service in the state.
Newsweek has contacted the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and Tesla for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The decision marks an important milestone in Tesla’s pursuit of a fully autonomous robotaxi service in California. While this permit does not immediately allow Tesla to offer public rides, it lays the groundwork for future autonomous operations. However, the path to a fully operational robotaxi service remains lengthy and uncertain, with regulatory hurdles, safety concerns, and technological advancements still to be addressed
What To Know
On Tuesday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved Tesla’s application for a transportation charter-party carrier permit (TCP)—a license usually reserved for chauffeur-operated services. This permit allows Tesla to own and manage a fleet of vehicles and transport employees on pre-arranged trips.
Securing the TCP is a necessary step for the company to apply for authorization to operate an autonomous ride-hailing service in California. However, a CPUC spokesperson told The Star in an email that the current permit “does not authorize them to provide rides” in autonomous vehicles, and does not allow Tesla to operate a ride-hailing service to the public.
To operate a fully autonomous robotaxi service that charges customers, Tesla would still need to obtain permits from both the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the CPUC.
David Zalubowski/AP
Currently, Tesla only holds a DMV permit allowing it to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver. As of Tuesday, a DMV spokesperson confirmed to The Star that Tesla has not applied for any additional permits from the agency after having applied for the TCP permit in November 2024.
Currently, only a handful of companies are permitted to deploy driverless taxis in California — Waymo, WeRide AI and Zoox. Cruise, which was stopped by General Motors after causing serious injury to a pedestrian, had its permit suspended.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has long made clear his ambitions for a robotaxi service powered by Tesla vehicles. In an earnings call in January, Musk said that there were huge gains to be made by utilizing autonomous driving, claiming older cars will attract more value overnight with a software update. “Very few people understand the value of full self driving and our ability to monetize the fleet,” he said.
In the same call, he also said that Tesla would put Cybertrucks, Model 3s and Model Ys using unsupervised “Full Self-Driving” technology on the road in Texas and California as early as this year.
But the regulatory process in California could take up to a year from now, Bryant Walker Smith, an associate professor of law at the University of South Carolina who specializes in emerging transportation technology, told the Los Angeles Times, meaning it is unlikely California will see Tesla robotaxis on its roads in 2025.
And that is only if Tesla’s robotaxis are deemed to be safe, and the company has already faced some scrutiny from regulators about the safety of its driverless vehicles.
Unlike Waymo, which uses cameras, radar, and lidar for navigation, Tesla relies heavily on cameras—a choice that critics say makes Full Self-Driving mode less safe, industry analyst Sam Abuelsamid told the L.A. Times.
Also, Mark Rober, who has over 65 million subscribers on YouTube, tested the vehicle’s autonomous cameras by driving at a screen with an exact replica of the road behind it, in the style of a Looney Tunes sketch. The car was unable to detect the wall, crashing directly through it.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving mode, which currently requires human supervision and cannot operate without a driver behind the wheel, is currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Musk has admitted that his timeframe for rolling out driverless cars may be a little optimistic. “I tend to be a little optimistic with time frames,” Musk told the crowd in a Tesla keynote speech in Burbank in October.
Meanwhile, Abuelsamid told the L.A. Times that Tesla’s robotaxi technology will take a long time to materialize, adding that the current technology isn’t suitable for robotaxis and will require fundamental changes before it can work effectively.
What People Are Saying
Industry analyst Sam Abuelsamid told the L.A. Times: “I don’t expect robotaxis to happen for Tesla for a long time. I don’t think their technology is going to be suitable for that until they make some fundamental changes.”
What Happens Next
The timeline for driverless Tesla cabs in California is uncertain. The company needs to obtain approval for a DMV permit and also apply for, and be accepted into, the CPUC autonomous vehicle program.