As robotaxis becomes more familiar view In the streets of Los Angeles, Tesla made a step that could bring it closer to the construction of its own fleet of autonomous electric vehicles, confirmed California Public Utilities Commission last week.
In November, Tesla asked for a permit that would allow the manufacturing of electric vehicles to deploy transport services with vehicles belonging to the company and human drivers. The permit would be required for Tesla to progress towards autonomous taxis.
Managing Director Elon Musk has long been His ambitions For a Robotaxi service powered by Tesla vehicles, although her business was critical By the American government's road safety agency to make statements that its vehicles can behave.
Admittedly, the automaker is still far before it can start a service.
And it always plays catching up. Although Waymo has put without driver's vehicles on the road in cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, industry experts say Tesla is still far from offering a Robotaxi service.
Here's what you need to know:
What is the license?
A transport Charter carrier permitor TCP. Companies that charter buses for sporting events or limousines for special occasions use this permit, according to the CPUC website.
If it is granted, the permit would not allow Tesla to make trips of autonomous vehicles, with or without someone driving. The permit is rather a prerequisite for the service of autonomous vehicle passengers of the Commission, which would give Tesla the authorization to deploy taxis without driver in the state.
Currently, only a handful of companies are allowed to deploy driver -free taxis in California – Waymo, Weride AI and Zoox. Cruise, who was arrested by General Motors after causing serious injury To a pedestrian, had his license suspended.
What is Tesla Planning?
There is no direct link between obtaining a TCP and the exploitation of a Robotaxis fleet, said Bryant Walker Smith, Associate Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina who specializes in emerging transport technology.
But Musk probably tries to report an evolution to autonomous services, he said.
“One possibility is that it really has nothing to do with Robotaxie, and they really want to make Tesla festive bus a lot work,” said Bryant. “I think it's unlikely.”
Obtaining a TCP could help Tesla lay the foundations for a future fleet, said Sam Abuelsamid, who is researching emerging transport technology for telemetry information.
“They probably want to do real tests of their distribution system, looking at the road when they may hope to launch a Robotaxi service,” he said.
Musk said in a call of results in January that there were huge gains to do using autonomous driving, saying that older cars will attract more value overnight with a software update. “Very few people understand the value of full driving and our ability to monetize the fleet,” he said.
How long could Tesla without driver take the road?
The chronology of Tesla without driver Tesla in California is not clear. The company must be approved for a TCP permit and also apply and be accepted in the CPUC autonomous vehicle program. California Department of Motor Vehicles also required permits to test and possibly deploy driver -free vehicles.
Autonomous Teslas could take the roads earlier from Austin, Texas, where regulations are less strict. Tesla contacted Austin officials in charge of her working group on autonomous vehicles in May, Bloomberg reported.
The regulatory process in California could take up to a year, assuming that Tesla’s technology turns out to be sure, said Smith.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comments, but Musk said during the January winning call that Tesla would put cybertrucks, the 3 models and the YS model using unleashed “autonomous” technology on the road in Texas and California this year. In October, the guests made walks on a closed track in the prototypes of Cybercab and Cybervan, which lack flyers, mirrors and gas pedals.
“I tend to be a little optimistic with deadlines,” Musk said in a crowd in a Keynote Tesla speech in Burbank in October. Musk promised fully autonomous driving in 2014. He also exaggerated Tesla's complete autonomous mode capacities, according to Abuelsamid and other experts.
“I don't expect robotaxis to happen for Tesla for a long time,” said Abuelsamid. “I don't think their technology will suit this until they make fundamental changes.”
Is technology sure?
Tesla's supervised autonomous mode does not currently work without human driving and was the subject of a survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration safety problems After several accidents, including one who killed a pedestrian.
Tesla tell The drivers that they must be ready to intervene immediately while using the fully auto driving mode, and a driver who hit a train using the automatic pilot admitted that the accident was his fault, Nbc reported.
NHTSA autonomous car regulators have suffered layoffs after the so-called Musk efficiency department, cups, targeted this team, the Washington Post reported.
A study By Iseecars.com published in November said that Tesla had the highest fatal accident rate of all car brands between 2017 and 2022 despite its use of driving assistance technology and high collisions safety ratings by the Autoroute Insurance Institute. A Tesla leader called the “Clickbait” study in a X post And said the study used an estimated number of mileage that was not correct.
Tesla's autonomous driving technology differs from Waymo in several ways, said Abuelsamid. Waymo vehicles use cameras as well as radar and a type of laser radar called Lidar to navigate the roads. Musk has repeatedly denounced the use of the Lidar, but his strong dependence on cameras made the complete autonomous mode less safe, according to Abuelsamid.
Smith has also noted factors that differentiate Waymo operational technology without driver from Tesla's complete autonomous mode. Waymo vehicles use a more advanced card to navigate, he said, and are most often based on a modular learning process that allows them to react to the environment around them.
“Each announcement that Musk makes aims to try to build the story around Tesla's autonomy,” said Abuelsamid. “When you really look at technology, it does not hold.”
