Tesla is effectively starting up a chauffeur-style taxi operation in the San Francisco Bay Area, Reuters reports. Sound like a strange move for a company obsessed with self-driving cars? That’s because it’s far from the whole story — and not exactly what Tesla is aiming to ultimately accomplish.
In a recent earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla was “getting the regulatory permission to launch” its robotaxis — which currently operate only in Austin, Texas — in additional markets, with one of those intended markets being San Francisco. While Tesla waits for regulatory approval, it's still sending cars out into the mean streets of The City by the Bay, but they’ll be required to have a human in the driver’s sea controlling the vehicle. (Tesla’s “robotaxis” in operation in Austin have a person in the passenger seat monitoring the proceedings, but there’s nobody in the driver’s seat.)
Reuters cites a spokesperson for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) as saying that “Tesla is not allowed to test or transport the public” in an autonomous vehicle, even if it has a human safety driver. The spokesperson said Tesla can only transport people if it’s done using a human driver in a “non-autonomous vehicle.” As of this writing, Tesla’s permit allows it to operate traditional vehicles for charter services... or in other words, a taxi.
Of course, Tesla can skirt around some of this language by simply having its chauffeur drivers use its Full-Self Driving software while transporting passengers. This software is completely legal for owners to use, but the law requires a human driver to constantly monitor and be ready to take over at any time. There’s no special permit required, though Reuters says the CPUC spokesperson did not respond when queried about its ability to activate FSD with passengers in the car.
This charter service will be extremely limited at the beginning, as Tesla reportedly told the CPUC it would start by offering rides to “friends and family of employees” and “select members of the public.” There’s still a lot to learn (and permits to be obtained,) so questions such as future costs and timing are all impossible to answer for the time being. Rides would theoretically be chargeable in the future, but California’s regulations require companies to initially operate in a pilot phase where they're not allowed to charge customers for their services.
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