Tesla is launching an evenly restricted version of its early Robotaxi services in San Francisco this weekend, following its initial rollout in Austin, Texas last month, according to Business Insider.
The company plans to send invitations to Tesla owners to send invitations to Tesla owners, according to the report.
Depending on how and how Tesla has progressed, its actions could violate state regulations. Also, even if a human safety driver is sitting behind the wheels while the vehicle is operating autonomously.
Two state agencies regulate aspects of California’s self-driving cars. The California Department of Motor Vehicles regulates the testing and deployment of self-driving vehicles, requiring permission for all three stages: testing with drivers, testing without drivers, and deploying drivers.
Tesla holds permission to test self-driving cars with human safety operators behind the wheels. There is no permission for unattended testing or deployment. Also, as of Wednesday, the DMV said they had not yet applied for additional permits. (Mercedes-Benz, Nuro and Waymo are the only three companies that have driverless deployment permissions.)
Also, Tesla does not have appropriate permission from the California Public Utilities Commission. It regulates the commercial aspects of human passenger cars and chartered transport, as well as permits piloted by self-driving vehicle systems.
Tesla has permission from a transport charter party. This allows human drivers to drive traditional vehicles (not AVs) for general charter services.
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According to Prosper, this is clearly different from self-driving vehicle permits for passenger transport. The so-called AV certification that Tesla does not have allows for testing and deployment of self-driving cars with or without a driver.
Tesla has not been approved by the CPUC to provide autonomous passenger services to paid or unpaid customers with or without drivers (the company has not applied), Prosper explained in an email. Tesla also does not have a “driving pilot AV permit” from the CPUC, so it is not even able to use self-driving cars with human operators behind the wheels for passenger service.
This means that if Tesla deploys Robotaxis and an autonomous system is engaged, the vehicle is free and there is a human safety operator behind the wheels, but it will violate state regulations.
The push to California is being stopped as part of a lawsuit over the promise the company has pledged to the autonomous driving capabilities of its cars as DMV is now trying to stop Tesla from selling vehicles in the state. Tesla is currently on trial in death cases related to the use of its incompetent driver assistance system, Autopilot.
Tesla has not yet proven that it can power the Robotaxi network using fully automated driving software. The company has been running an invite-only version of the Robotaxi service in Austin since June 22nd, but it’s far from what Musk has been making fun of for years.
The service is primarily limited to downtown core and main corridors in Austin. In the passenger seat, there is a safety operator who can intervene if the car is trying to do something wrong or dangerous. The service started with around 10 vehicles, but it is not clear how many models in which YSVs operate in the city, nor how many times these safety operators had to intervene.
It’s a long way from the “general solution” that Musk said Tesla had been working on for 10 years. Musk once had confidence in autonomous software, and said he would steal the car from Los Angeles to New York because it was developed by Tesla. Musk said this week that Tesla is also looking to expand to Florida and Arizona. TechCrunch reported earlier this month that Tesla has begun the certification process required to test and operate it with or without Arizona drivers.
Update: This story has been updated to include new information from the CPUC.
