The electric carmaker appears to be both-sides-ing its impending launch, telling regulators it will have human drivers on board while touting the project as ‘robotaxis’ to investors.
Tesla says it is planning to launch ‘robotaxis’ with human drivers in the vehicle in San Francisco, reports Aarian Marshall in Wired. “The plan appears to put the electric carmaker in murky legal waters in a US state with the country's most tightly regulated autonomous vehicle industry—and where Tesla is already being sued for misleading language around its driver assistance tech.”
According to Marshall, Tesla plans to expand an existing employee-only taxi service to “select” members of the public, which is legally allowed to do under the “Transportation Charter Party” it received in March. But the California Public Utilities Commission says “Tesla is not allowed to test or transport the public (paid or unpaid) in an [autonomous vehicle] with or without a driver.”
It seems that the company and the CPUC differ on their definitions. While Tesla says they will “launch the service with a person in the driver's seat just to expedite while we wait for regulatory approval,” the CPUC says “Tesla does not have a permit to pilot autonomous vehicle technology even with a safety driver.”
Read the full story: Tesla Readies a Taxi Service in San Francisco—but Not With Robotaxis
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