Tesla has requested a permit to operate a transportation service in California using human drivers, instead of implementing its promised robotaxi.
This request, submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission, marks a significant shift in Tesla’s strategy, which had promised “unsupervised autonomous driving” by 2025.
However, current plans indicate that the company intends to operate an internal fleet with teleoperation support, similar to Waymo’s business model, rather than a fully autonomous service.
Elon Musk had an idea, the reality is different
The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, had reaffirmed his intention to introduce unsupervised driving in California and Texas by the second quarter of 2025. Despite his previous promises, the reality seems to be aligning more with a transportation service in the style of Uber and Lyft, highlighting that the real challenge remains achieving full autonomy in driving.
Currently, Tesla’s autonomous driving system achieves approximately 500 miles between critical disconnections, far below the 700,000 miles needed to be considered safer than a human. Musk has repeatedly claimed that the company will achieve “unsupervised autonomous driving” by the end of this year, despite having made similar claims in the past without success.
Although the permit requested by Tesla represents a step towards testing transportation services before achieving full autonomy, some experts believe that this initiative is trivial, given that other companies like Uber and Lyft have already resolved the fundamental aspects of on-demand transportation. As previously noted, what really needs to be resolved is autonomous driving.
In summary, Tesla’s request reflects a shift in its initial ambitions and suggests that its short-term focus is more aligned with the reality of the current market than with the bold promises of the past.