Tesla is launching an even-more-limited version of its early robotaxi service in San Francisco this weekend, according to Business Insider, after an initial rollout began last month in Austin, Texas.
The company plans to send invites to Tesla owners to test the service, according to the report.
Depending on how and if Tesla proceeds, its actions could violate state regulations — and even if there’s a human safety driver sitting behind the wheel while its vehicles operate autonomously.
Two state agencies regulate aspects of autonomous vehicles in California. The California Department of Motor Vehicles regulates the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles, and requires permits for all three stages: testing with a driver, testing without a driver, and driverless deployment.
Tesla holds a permit for testing autonomous vehicles with a human safety operator behind the wheel. It doesn’t have a permit for driverless testing or deployment. And as of Wednesday it had not yet applied for additional permits, according to the DMV. (Mercedes-Benz, Nuro, and Waymo are the only three companies that hold driverless deployment permits.)
Nor does Tesla have the proper permits from the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates the commercial aspects of ride-hailing and chartered transportation by humans as well as those steered by autonomous vehicle systems.
Tesla has a Transportation Charter Party permit, which allows a human driver to drive a traditional vehicle (not an AV) for charter services with the public, CPUC spokesperson Terrie Prosper told TechCrunch in an email.
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This is distinctly different from an autonomous vehicle permit for passenger transportation, according to Prosper. So-called AV authorizations, which Tesla doesn’t have, allows for the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles with or without a driver.
Tesla has not received approval from the CPUC to offer autonomous passenger service to customers, paid or unpaid, with or without a driver (nor has the company applied), Prosper explained in the email. Tesla also doesn’t hold a “Drivered Pilot AV permit” from the CPUC, so it cannot even use an autonomous vehicle with a human operator behind the wheel for passenger service.
This means that if Tesla deploys its robotaxis and the autonomous systems are engaged it will be violating state regulations even if the rides are free and there is a human safety operator behind the wheel.
The push into California comes as the DMV is currently trying to stop Tesla from selling vehicles in the state as part of a years-long lawsuit over the promises the company has made about its cars’ self-driving abilities. Tesla is also currently on trial in a lawsuit over deaths related to the use of its less-capable driver assistance system, Autopilot.
Tesla has also yet to prove that its Full Self-Driving software can be used to power a robotaxi network. While the company has been running an invite-only version of its robotaxi service in Austin since June 22, it’s been a far cry from what Musk has spent years teasing.
The service is mostly limited to Austin’s downtown core and main corridors. There is a safety operator in the front passenger seat who can intervene if the car is about to do something wrong or dangerous. While the service launched with around 10 vehicles, it’s not clear how many Model Y SUVs are in operation in the city, nor is it clear how many times those safety operators have had to intervene.
That’s a long way from the “general solution” that Musk said Tesla was working on for a decade. Musk was once so confident in the autonomous software Tesla was developing that he said it would take a car from Los Angeles to New York — a stunt that never happened. Musk said this week that Tesla is also trying to expand to Florida and Arizona. TechCrunch reported earlier this month that Tesla had begun the required certification process to test and operate with and without a driver in Arizona.
Update: This story has been updated to include new information from the CPUC.
