Tesla aims to launch a human-driven chauffeur-style ride service in the San Francisco Bay Area, not a robotaxi service contrary to earlier media reports, a California state regulator clarified Friday.
An official with the California Public Utilities Commission said the electric vehicle company has not applied for and does not have the required permits to operate autonomous vehicles.
The future service will therefore not be fully autonomous robotaxis but rather conventional vehicles driven by human drivers.
Regulatory permission
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, informed investors earlier this week that the company was “getting regulatory permission” to introduce robotaxis in a number of markets, including the Bay Area.
The future service was also referred to as a “robotaxi” in a Business Insider report, although it will have human drivers who can take over.
However, officials from the CPUC made a clear distinction. Tesla can only provide rides if it has a license that permits a human driver to carry passengers for charter.
It will start by providing rides to “friends and family of employees” and “selected members of the public,” the company told the commission.
The announcement follows a limited robotaxi trial in Austin, Texas, where Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software was used to operate Model Y SUVs with human safety monitors in the passenger seat.
However, California regulators maintain that Tesla’s system is not autonomous because it necessitates constant driver supervision.
Tesla has not applied for permits to operate autonomous vehicles without a driver or to collect fares, but it currently has a DMV permit to test self-driving cars with a safety driver.
In comparison, competitors such as Waymo launched their driverless robotaxi service in California last year after obtaining seven different approvals over the course of almost ten years.
Launch of driverless Robotaxi
Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year unveiled a self-driving robotaxi that had two gull-wing doors and no pedals or steering wheel at an event titled “We, Robot.”
The event was held in the Warner Bros studio in California where the tech mogul showcased his latest inventions, a driverless cybercab and humanoid robots.
“The autonomous future is here,” Musk said. “We have 50 fully autonomous cars here tonight. You’ll see model Ys and the Cybercab. All driverless.”
20 two-door cybercabs drove the event attendees round the studio while the humanoid robots waited on guests, serving cocktails and also playing games like rock-paper-scissors with them.
Musk showed up to the event driving a “Cybercab,” which is anticipated to go into production in 2025 and cost less than $30,000 (about N50 million).
He added that there would be a 20 percent per mile operating cost and that the charging would be inductive, meaning no plugs were needed.
Musk thinks that the difference between these cars and their robotaxi competitors is that the automobiles rely on artificial intelligence and cameras instead of additional hardware.