Tesla applies for autonomous ride-hailing license in California
Tesla has officially filed for approval to offer autonomous ride-hailing services in California, a move that comes just weeks after several executives revealed it plans to launch the same rides in its Cybercab in Austin, Texas, in June.
Tesla applied for a “transportation charter-party carrier permit” from the California Public Utilities Commission, which would see the company own and control a fleet of autonomous ride-sharing vehicles in the Golden State. However, it will use human drivers at first
Bloomberg was the first to spot the application, which was filed in late 2024, its report said.
Tesla’s intention to launch a dedicated fleet of self-driving, driverless robotaxis has been a long time coming. Known for its self-driving project, it has gathered more data than any other company out there through its expansive and extensive Beta program of Full Self-Driving (Supervised).
The move also is a direct blow to competitors like Uber, Waymo, and others, who offer ride-hailing and/or autonomous vehicle transportation programs. Waymo, specifically, has a driverless program that Tesla is aiming to come after with its rollout of an in-house ride-hailing suite.
If approved, Tesla would gain the same type of permit used by Waymo, the report confirmed.
Of course, this is all pending regulatory approval, and Tesla is not planning to start its self-driving offerings in California, but Texas, instead.
During Tesla’s Q4 2024 Earnings Call, CEO Elon Musk unveiled plans for the company to launch the program in Texas this year:
“So, we’re going to be launching unsupervised full self-driving as a paid service in Austin in June. So, I talked to the team. We feel confident in being able to do an initial launch of unsupervised, no one in the car, Full Self-Driving in Austin in June.”
He went on to say that Tesla would launch this in “many cities in America by the end of this year” in early February. Still, a lot of work is left to do, because there have been no approvals for Tesla to begin these operations in Austin or any other city.
Tesla does plan, however, on rolling out the Cybercab it unveiled in early October in Los Angeles as the first vehicle to give driverless rides in Austin. Tesla’s Head of Design Franz von Holzhausen and VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy confirmed in a recent interview with Jay Leno that the Cybercab would be rolling around the streets of Austin in June:
🚨Tesla Cybercab rides are coming to Austin in June and potentially California shortly thereafter
This would be a huge development for Tesla moving into late 2025 and beyond https://t.co/bJB7aRXyO0 pic.twitter.com/6P2csgYlqr
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 27, 2025
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