Tesla received a permit Tuesday from the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a transportation service in the state, the beginning of a long regulatory road that could eventually lead to the company getting the OK to operate a robotaxi service there.
The permit, which Tesla applied for in November 2024, doesn’t cover autonomous vehicle testing or deployment. And it’s technically different than the permits that ride-hailing companies Lyft and Uber possess.
Tesla was granted a transportation charter permit or TCP. A TCP permit means the company — in this case Tesla — owns the vehicles and uses employees as drivers, according to the CPUC, which regulates human-driven and driverless ride-hailing services in the state. A TCP is for companies that want to offer prearranged transportation services like roundtrip sightseeing, according to the commission.
Uber and Lyft hold transportation network company (TNC) permits. TNCs use an online-enabled application like a smartphone app to connect drivers using their personal vehicles with paying passengers.
Tesla plans to initially use its TCP permit to transport employees on a pre-arranged basis and in vehicles owned by the automaker, according to its application. Tesla has agreed to notify the CPUC when it transitions to transporting members of the public.
Importantly, Tesla’s application doesn’t seek participation in the commission’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Programs in either a drivered or driverless capacity. That doesn’t mean Tesla won’t eventually apply for those permits. If it does, Tesla will also need to obtain permits from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates autonomous vehicle testing and deployment in the state.
Tesla does not possess authority from the DMV to offer any driverless rides for testing or deployment purposes, according to state regulators.
Tesla meanwhile is planning to launch a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised the robotaxi service will begin in June using its own fleet vehicles that are equipped with the yet-to-be-released “unsupervised” version of its Full Self-Driving software.
