Two California agencies that regulate robo-taxis said they had not heard from Tesla about its plans for the cars, even though Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced last week that he would unveil a new robo-taxi product in August.
Tesla has not applied for the two permits it will need to operate a self-driving car service in the nation's most populous state, the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, said in separate statements to NBC News.
The lack of permits – or any attempt to obtain them – raises questions about how quickly Tesla will be able to operate a robotaxi service.
“Tesla is still a long way from getting that approval,” said Brad Templeton, a self-driving car industry consultant.
Tesla representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday
California, which has been ground zero for the launch of robo-taxis, requires aspiring robo-taxi services to obtain at least two permits.
The DMV handles permits to deploy self-driving equipment on the road, and Tesla currently has a minimum-level permit, allowing it to test self-driving vehicles with human drivers present. Only three companies have the highest level permit, which allows them to deploy autonomous vehicles without human drivers
“Tesla has not applied for a deployment permit from the DMV,” the department said in a statement in response to questions.
She added that if Tesla decides to deploy self-driving taxis, “the DMV will take steps to ensure that Tesla is operating under the appropriate self-driving vehicle permits.”
The CPUC handles permits to operate robots as businesses, including tech startup Waymo Services in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Tesla does not have a permit from the CPUC and has not applied, the commission said
“If Tesla wanted to offer a robo-taxi service, it would need to follow the same rules as other companies (e.g., DMV approval for driverless testing/deployment before obtaining CPUC permit). The CPUC has not been approached for such a permit The committee said in a statement in response to questions
Waymo, a subsidiary of Google, needed eight months to get its initial CPUC permit to operate a robotaxi company that could charge fees, rather than just offer free test rides. She applied in December 2022 and received approval in August.
Templeton said it's possible the approval timeline for Tesla could be as little as eight months — or more.
“It's also possible they think Tesla is premature and never approved it,” he said. Templeton is a former member of Google's self-driving car team, which became known as Waymo, but he left a decade ago and said he no longer had ties to the company.
Tesla has approached the challenge of self-driving technology differently than Waymo, for example. Tesla has relied less on expensive sensors like LiDAR, deploying its driver-assistance systems in phases across the country while Waymo and GM's Cruise have focused on controlling small geographic areas, such as parts of the Phoenix and San Francisco metro areas.
Tesla has not yet publicly released technology for driving a car without human supervision. Its “full self-driving” product requires a human driver present and ready to take over at any time.
Each state handles robo-taxi regulation differently, and it's possible that Tesla could seek to launch a service without California, even though that would mean cutting out a key market. Tesla was the No. 2 seller of new cars and light trucks in the state last year, with 230,589 new registrations, behind only Toyota, according to a report from the California New Car Dealers Association.
Musk hinted at his plans in a short post late Friday afternoon on X, writing: “Tesla Robotaxi unveiled on 8/8.”
He did not provide details about his plans, but the post boosted the morale of Tesla fans on social media who had seen the company under attack in the business media and on Wall Street. Three days ago, Tesla shares fell after the company reported a drop in deliveries, but on Monday, the next trading day after Musk's post, Tesla's stock price rose 4.9%, Reuters reported.
Tesla message boards have been full of speculation about what Musk's August announcement will be. It's not even clear if Musk plans to announce a vehicle, service, or something else
Musk has talked about robo-taxi service for many years. In 2019, he discussed plans to launch a robotaxi fleet using Tesla vehicles that people rented and then returned. This strategy would shift the start-up costs of fleet construction—particularly depreciation costs—to the lessees, drivers, and analysts who took notice at the time.
Musk also talked about a decentralized ownership robo-taxi service, where Tesla owners can rent out their cars for a fare.
Tesla may need a permit from different states or regions to operate its robotaxi fleet nationwide
In Arizona, Waymo and Cruise have received permits from the state Department of Transportation to operate as “transportation network companies.” Management did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Tesla has or will need to apply
Cruise, which also received permits from California for its robotaxi service, halted operations across the country last year after one of its cars in San Francisco failed to detect a pedestrian pinned underneath and then towed it 20 feet. California officials also accused Cruz of failing to properly disclose details of the accident, and revoked Cruz's permits. This week, Cruise said it would resume testing with human drivers
Amazon subsidiary Zoox said it has received a permit from the state of Nevada to operate a robotaxi service, which has not yet been launched. Nevada has a “self-certification” process for robo-taxi operations, and the Nevada DMV says it will issue a “certificate of compliance” to those who qualify.
The Nevada DMV has not received paperwork from Tesla to begin the certification process, but he said the process shouldn't take long, said Eli Ruhl, a spokesman for the department.
“If Tesla is interested in obtaining certification or permitting in Nevada, it will likely do so in short order,” he said in an email.
Tesla already has a tense relationship with regulators in California. In 2022, the California Department of Motor Vehicles accused it of engaging in deceptive practices around the marketing of its driver assistance systems, including using the product name “full self-driving.” An administrative hearing on the matter is scheduled for September
