"We believe we will have driverless Teslas providing paid rides next year," Musk stated during Tesla's quarterly earnings call.
He mentioned that Tesla currently provides an app-based ride-hailing service exclusively for employees in the San Francisco Bay Area. This assertion reinforces and elaborates on a commitment he made during the unveiling of Tesla's robotaxi two weeks prior, where he indicated that he anticipates the introduction of "unsupervised" self-driving capabilities in select Tesla models by 2025.
The absence of a concrete business strategy surrounding the robotaxi at that event led to a decline in the company's stock. However, on Wednesday, Tesla regained some investor confidence by projecting a significant increase in vehicle sales for the upcoming year.
In California, the company will particularly face challenges in obtaining the necessary permits to provide fully autonomous rides to paying customers.
Alphabet's Waymo, which currently offers paid rides in autonomous vehicles in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Arizona, spent years accumulating millions of miles in testing before securing its first permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the body that oversees ride-hailing services.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles, responsible for regulating the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in the state, informed Reuters that Tesla last reported using its autonomous vehicle testing permit in 2019, which mandates the presence of a safety driver.
The agency also noted that Tesla has neither obtained nor applied for a testing permit that allows operation without a driver.
Tesla did not provide a response to a request for comment.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has determined that Tesla does not require a permit for its ride-hailing service in the Bay Area, as employees are not classified as passengers.
During Tesla's robotaxi event on October 10, Elon Musk introduced a two-seater, two-door "Cybercab" designed without a steering wheel or pedals, relying on cameras and artificial intelligence for navigation.
On Wednesday, Musk acknowledged the challenges in California, stating, "it's not something we totally control," but expressed confidence, saying, "I would be shocked if we don't get approval next year."
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| A Tesla Inc. Optimus robot, also known as the Tesla Bot is pictured at the 2024 Paris Auto Show in Paris, France, October 15, 2024. (Reuters) |
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| Tesla's robovan is unveiled at an event in Los Angeles, California, U.S. (Reuters) |
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| Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk rides in Tesla's robotaxi at an unveilling event in Los Angeles, California, U.S. (Reuters) |
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| A Tesla Model S electric car is displayed on media day at the 2024 Paris Auto Show in Paris, France, October 14, 2024. (Reuters) |
Ross Gerber, a Tesla shareholder and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, remarked that navigating regulatory processes is quite challenging and should not be viewed as an easy task.
While Texas imposes fewer regulatory constraints on autonomous vehicles compared to California, companies typically undergo extensive testing for months or even years before launching paid services.
The regulation of autonomous vehicle deployment is primarily managed at the state level. Musk suggested during the call that a "national approval process for autonomy" is necessary.
Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, which underpins the company's robotaxi plans, has come under scrutiny from regulators. Recently, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD following reports of four collisions, including a fatal incident in 2023.
Despite these challenges, the prospect of Tesla launching a robotaxi fleet caused shares of ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft to decline by 2.3% in after-hours trading.