Tesla self -driving taxi clears the obstacle for early approval in California

Tesla Inc. Authorization from the state regulators this week to start a charter service that will use Tesla drivers to carry their employees into vehicles owned by the company for pre -arranged vehicles, step towards their plans for their plans for Tesla taxis without driversS

The California Committee on Utilities, one of the state regulators, which runs the rented vehicles, granted Tesla approval for what is known as a permit for the carrier of the transport charter on Tuesday, acting in a November 2024 application by the company.

The permit does not allow Tesla to manage a RideShare service like Uber or Lyft, nor gives Tesla permission to manage taxis without drivers. And Tesla has not applied to resolve any of these functions.

“The only reasonable explanation I can figure out why they have this (permission) is to allow them to test some of the backend operating services needed to manage the mobility service,” says Sam Abullassmid, Vice President of Market Research in the Communication Company and Automobile Analyst.

In order to provide RideShare services – with or without a guide – Tesla will need software that allows riders to request a ride, send a vehicle to welcome them, and take that rider to their destination. This charter service permission, Abelsmid said, may be a way to test this type of software.

Tesla did not answer questions by email.

The application of Tesla, which CPUC does not provide Calmatters at the time of publication, cited the transport of its employees as an “initial” use for the permit. It is unclear where in California the company will manage the charter service. The company did not answer a question about the operating site or what it expects to use the authorization after initial use.

Deploying taxis without public drivers is a long regulatory road. The company will require permits from both the Commission for Utilities and the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which controls safety for such rides. The necessary steps include testing unpaid vehicles with a safety driver, a paid for a safety driver and a paid rides without any driver.

Currently, Waymo offers rides without public drivers in a limited number of areas around the state.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said At the end of January a call with investors that the company will release vehicles without drivers in Austin in June.

“This is not a distant, mythical situation,” he told the start of Texas. “It’s literally five, six months.”