Tesla intends to take its driver’s taxis to California and Arizona while the car manufacturer plans an expansion After the limited launch last month in Austin.
Executive director Elon Musk predicted on its social media platform X that Tesla’s robotaxis could be launched in the San Francisco Bay area “Probably in one or two months”, waiting for regulatory approvals. The car manufacturer also plans to expand its service area in Austin this weekend, he said.
Tesla has also communicated with the Arizona Department of Transportation to begin the certification process for shared trips in autonomous vehiclesSaid the state agency to Bloomberg in a statement sent by email.
The car manufacturer did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the discussions in Arizona, that had not been previously informed.
Musk is reorienting Tesla to futuristic projects such as autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, while his traditional car business crosses difficulties. The executive director has a long history of offering deadlines related to autonomous driving ambitions that the company does not comply with.
In another X -Thursday post, Musk said that Grok, the chatbot developed by his startup XAI, will arrive in Tesla vehicles “At the latest next week.”
Tesla shares rose up to 4.1% and rose 2.3% to 1:30 pm in New York. The action had fallen 25% this year.
Tesla recently made available to a small group of supporters and shareholders its long -awaited autonomous transport service in a limited area of Austin. The car manufacturer had already indicated that California would be the following destination, after Texas.
Bloomberg first reported in February that the company had requested at the end of last year what It is known as a carrier permit under transport of transport of the California Public Services Commission.
Tesla has told the officials of the Department of Motorized Vehicles in California to adopt a gradual approach to operate in the state, Starting with giving employees previously organized trips with a security driver.
Investors closely follow the expansion of robotaxis, which could be complicated by regulatory obstacles, technological limitations or traffic incidents. The US automotive security regulators have already declared that they are investigating Tesla’s robotaxis, that apparently violated traffic standards on the first day of their deployment in Austin.
While the launch in Texas involved only a handful of Model vehicles and Musk has said that Tesla will expand a thousand vehicles within a few months and Then you will present a specially designed cybercab without pedals or steering wheel.
Analysts have said that if Tesla manages to carry out their expansion plans, it could represent a threat to both autonomous taxis companies led by Waymo, As for standard transport services, including Uber Technologies.
“This rapid deployment of Robotaxi could mark the beginning of Tesla’s offensive against existing shared mobility models, including other Robotaxi networks,” said Alexander Potter, an analyst at Piper Sandler, in a note on Thursday. “The faster this deployment advances (without serious accidents), the better it will be for Tesla’s actions.”
