Overview
- Internal emails reviewed by Reuters show California and federal officials were alarmed by Tesla’s Bay Area rollout messaging, noting the company had not applied for permits required for fully driverless, on‑demand service.
- State officials say Tesla’s Bay Area operations consist of invite‑only, pre‑arranged trips in vehicles with human drivers under a limousine‑style permit that does not allow on‑demand ride‑hailing.
- The California Public Utilities Commission told Tesla to clearly distinguish supervised Full Self‑Driving from autonomous ride‑hailing after a Tesla post promoted “$99/mo to have your own supervised Robotaxi.”
- A viral rider video from the Bay Area showed a safety driver present and cited a roughly $4.50 fare for a short trip, underscoring that local rides are supervised rather than driverless.
- Tesla is broadening testing and validation with an Arizona OK to test with safety drivers in Phoenix, a Nevada testing certificate, and sightings of sensor‑equipped validation cars in Plano, Texas, alongside new vehicle‑operator job listings in multiple Bay Area cities.