Tesla is operating Supervised Robotaxi in the Bay Area

Tesla today announced a ride-hailing service in the Bay Area, confirming its second major expansion in the US, but wait, this isn’t a robotaxi launch with autonomous capability; instead, the initial version is using supervised vehicles.

The company pushed a new app update, revealing the area expansion and short ride fee. It was expected to be an autonomous Robotaxi launch, but it’s only ride-hailing.

Tesla ride-hailing service Bay Area (Source – Tesla)

A first demo coming from @Teslaconomics has confirmed that the Model Y taxi for ride-hailing has employed a human safety monitor in the driver’s seat. This monitor is responsible for checking the vehicle’s movement, which operates with Full Self-Driving (FSD). To do so, the monitor keeps both hands on the steering wheel, just like the supervised FSD, and takes manual control when FSD makes mistakes.

It’s expected these supervised Robotaxis also have the same level of autonomous expertise as their unsupervised counterparts in Austin. However, putting a safety driver inside these service vehicles is not a choice, and it’s a restriction due to pending regulatory approval.

Tesla currently has a permit from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to test self-driving vehicles with a safety driver on public roads. However, it still lacks permission to collect fares in robotaxis.

On the other hand, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) revealed last week that the EV maker has not received a permit to test or transport the public with or without a driver in a self-driving vehicle.

However, the company has informed CPUC of its intent to include friends and family of employees, plus select public participants in the Bay Area service, but only in human-operated vehicles.

Still, the regulator required Tesla to complete the initial steps of completing the pilot phase for free of cost for customers before getting autonomous ride permits. In the process, many people have seen these test vehicles on the road, which is presumably part of the licensing process.

So how is Tesla able to conduct ride-hailing in the Bay Area without a permit? A CPUC spokesperson shared details in this regard and said that Tesla could use Supervised Robotaxi service in the Bay Area because it doesn’t require an autonomous vehicle permit due to the presence of a human driver.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently commented on the licensing, expecting the regulators to clear Robotaxi ambitions within the next two months.