Tesla Got a Permit to Operate a Taxi Service in California—but There’s a Catch

Tesla has been granted a permit to operate a taxi service in California, a spokesperson for the California Public Utilities Commission, a state regulator, said Tuesday. It marks the first step towards Tesla’s and CEO Elon Musk’s vision of operating a driverless taxi service in the state. One day, Musk has said, Tesla owners should be able to rent out their cars as sort of self-driving Ubers while they’re not using them. He has said current owners should be able to operate their Models 3 and Y autonomously in the state later this year—a plan that faces both technological and regulatory hurdles. But despite the permit, Tesla’s driverless taxi future still seems far off in California, which has the perfect climate for self-driving cars but some of the strictest regulatory requirements in the US for testing and operating them. The permit does not allow Tesla to transport passengers in driverless cars; CPUC spokesperson Terrie Prosper says that the electric carmaker did not apply for its ... Read full article.