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Tesla robotaxi to face regulatory and technical challenges

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Waymo spent years testing before receiving permits in

California

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Tesla hasn't applied for driverless testing permit in

California

By Chris Kirkham

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Tesla CEO Elon Musk on

Wednesday said the electric vehicle maker will roll out

driverless ride-hailing services to the public in California and

Texas next year, a bold claim likely to face significant

regulatory and technical challenges.

"We think that we'll be able to have driverless Teslas doing

paid rides next year," Musk said on Tesla's quarterly earnings

call. He said Tesla currently offers an app-based ride-hailing

service to employees in the San Francisco Bay Area.

His statement doubled down and expanded on a pledge he made at

Tesla's robotaxi unveiling two weeks ago, where he said he

expected to roll out "unsupervised" self-driving in certain

Tesla vehicles in 2025. The lack of a business plan around the

robotaxi at that event sent its stock plunging.

On Wednesday, however, Tesla won back some investor confidence

by forecasting a jump in vehicle sales next year.

In California, in particular, the company will face an

uphill climb in securing the needed permits to offer fully

autonomous rides to paying customers.

Alphabet's Waymo, which offers paid rides in

autonomous vehicles in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, as well as

in Phoenix, Arizona, spent years logging millions of miles of

testing before it received its first permit from the California

Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which regulates ride-hailing

services.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulates

testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in the state, told

Reuters that Tesla last reported using its autonomous vehicle

testing permit in 2019. That permit requires a safety driver.

The company does not have, and has not applied for, a

testing permit without a driver, the agency said.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

As for the ride-hailing service in the Bay Area for

employees, CPUC said Tesla does not need a permit, because

employees are not considered passengers.

At Tesla's robotaxi event on Oct 10, Musk unveiled a

two-seater, two-door "Cybercab" without a steering wheel and

pedals that would use cameras and artificial intelligence to

navigate roads.

On Wednesday, he acknowledged the potential difficulties in

California, saying "it's not something we totally control," but

adding "I would be shocked if we don't get approval next year."

Texas has far fewer regulatory requirements for autonomous

vehicles than California, but companies often test for months or

years before deploying paid services.

Tesla's advanced driver assistance system, called Full

Self-Driving (FSD), which is the bedrock for Tesla's robotaxi

ambitions, has faced questions from regulators.

Last week, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into 2.4 million

Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD after four reported collisions,

including a 2023 fatal crash.

Still, the idea of Tesla rolling out a robotaxi fleet sent

shares of ride-hailing apps down 2.3% in post-market trading.