By Kara Carlson and Richard Clough, Bloomberg
Tesla Inc. is aiming to bring its driverless taxis to California and Arizona as the carmaker plots an expansion on the heels of last month’s limited rollout in Austin.
Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk predicted on his social media service X that Tesla robotaxis could launch in the San Francisco Bay area “probably in a month or two,” pending regulatory approvals. The carmaker plans to broaden its service area in Austin this weekend, he said.
Tesla has also contacted the Arizona Department of Transportation to begin the certification process for autonomous vehicle ride-sharing, the state agency told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. Tesla has expressed interest in operating within the Phoenix metropolitan area, the transportation department said. A decision on the company’s applications — including for operations with and without a driver — is expected by the end of this month.
The automaker didn’t respond to a request for comment on the Arizona discussions, which have not been previously reported.
Musk is reorienting Tesla around futuristic pursuits like driverless vehicles, artificial intelligence and humanoid robots as its traditional car business struggles. The CEO has a long track record of offering timelines related to autonomous-driving ambitions that the company fails to meet.
In another X post on Thursday, Musk said that Grok, the chatbot developed by his startup xAI, will be coming to Tesla vehicles “next week at the latest.”
Tesla shares jumped 4.7% Thursday in New York. The stock is down 23% this year.
Tesla recently made its long-awaited autonomous ride-hailing service available to a small group of supporters and shareholders in a limited area of Austin. The carmaker has indicated before that California would be up next after Texas.
Bloomberg first reported in February that the company had applied late last year for what’s known as a transportation charter-party carrier permit from the California Public Utilities Commission.
Tesla has told California Department of Motor Vehicles officials that it plans to take a phased approach to operating in the state, starting with giving employees pre-arranged rides using a safety driver.
Tesla has not applied for either a driverless testing or deployment permit with the DMV, the agency said late Thursday.
“Tesla has held an autonomous vehicle testing permit for public road testing with a safety driver since 2014,” said the DMV in an email. “If Tesla intends to conduct driverless testing or deploy autonomous technology, it must apply for the appropriate permit.”
Investors are closely watching for robotaxi expansion, which could be complicated by regulatory hurdles, technological limitations or traffic incidents. US auto safety regulators already have said they’re looking into Tesla robotaxis appearing to violate traffic laws the first day they were deployed in Austin.
While the Texas launch involved only a handful of Model Y vehicles, Musk has said Tesla will expand to a thousand vehicles within a few months, and later introduce a purpose-built Cybercab with no pedals or steering wheel.
If Tesla can make good on its expansion plans, analysts have said it could pose a threat both to autonomous-taxi companies led by Waymo, and standard ride-hailing providers including Uber Technologies Inc.
“This rapid robotaxi deployment could spell the beginning of Tesla’s assault on existing shared mobility models, including other robotaxi network operators,” Alexander Potter, an analyst with Piper Sandler, said in a note Thursday. “The faster this roll-out progresses (without major accidents), the better it will be” for Tesla’s stock.
–With assistance from Dana Hull.
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