Tesla has applied for a Transportation Charter-Party Carrier (TCP) permit from the California Public Utilities Commission. This permit would allow Tesla to own and operate a fleet of vehicles for a ride-hailing service.
However, Tesla did not apply for a Transportation Network Company (TNC) permit, which is required for services like Uber and Lyft. A TNC permit allows companies to connect passengers with drivers through an app for paid rides.
Instead, Tesla is seeking approval to run its own fleet with human drivers, rather than a traditional ride-sharing model where independent drivers use their own cars.
Application Details
Tesla filed the application in November 2024, according to Bloomberg. If approved, the permit would allow Tesla to operate a fleet of vehicles, similar to Waymo.
However, this permit alone does not grant permission for autonomous rides. Tesla would need to apply separately to join California’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service program. So far, Tesla has not submitted that application.
Even if Tesla gets this permit, it cannot offer self-driving rides (supervised or fully driverless) until further approvals are granted.
How This Affects the Industry
Tesla’s move challenges competitors like Uber and Waymo, who already offer ride-hailing and autonomous transportation.
By offering free rides, Tesla could introduce more people to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system and gather feedback.
Tesla has said they will roll out Robotaxi services carefully. They want to be sure the risk of accidents or injuries is very low before allowing fully autonomous rides.
Texas First for Fully Autonomous Rides
While Tesla is working toward approvals in California, the company is launching its first fully autonomous ride service in Austin, Texas.
During Tesla’s Q4 2024 Earnings Call, CEO Elon Musk said:
“So, we’re going to be launching unsupervised full self-driving as a paid service in Austin in June. So, I talked to the team. We feel confident in being able to do an initial launch of unsupervised, no one in the car, Full Self-Driving in Austin in June.”
Musk also said that Tesla plans to expand this service to “many cities in America” by the end of the year. However, Tesla has not yet received approval to begin operations in Austin or elsewhere.
Tesla’s Cybercab, first revealed in October, will be the first vehicle to give driverless rides in Austin. Tesla’s Head of Design Franz von Holzhausen and VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy confirmed in a recent interview with Jay Leno that Cybercabs will start operating in Austin in June.
Tesla is taking a cautious approach to autonomy. The company is starting with supervised rides in California while preparing for fully driverless operations in Texas.
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