Tesla applies for ride-hail permit in California — but there’s a catch

Tesla applied for a permit with the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a transportation service in the state — a required first step if the automaker wants to eventually operate a robotaxi service there. Tesla’s application for a transportation charter-party carrier permit was first reported by Bloomberg. TechCrunch has independently confirmed with the CPUC that Tesla applied for the TCP permit in November 2024. The permit is pending and has not yet approved. These so-called TCP permits are different from those held by ride-hailing app companies Lyft and Uber. A TCP permit means the company — in this case Tesla — owns the vehicles and uses employees as drivers, according to the CPUC, which regulates human-driven and driverless ride-hailing services in the state. Uber and Lyft hold transportation network company (TNC) permits. TNCs use an online-enabled application like a smartphone app to connect drivers using their personal vehicles with paying passengers. A CPUC sp ... Read full article.