SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) —Tesla Inc. applied with the California Public Utilities Commission for a transportation charter-party carrier permit, indicating that the company plans to join the ride-hailing business. This would place Tesla on par with established players such as Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo.
The license would enable Tesla to own and maintain its fleet of cars, which would be different from the model of Uber and Lyft, where drivers use their vehicles. In talks with California authorities, Tesla mentioned driver’s license data and drug-testing coordination, which suggests that human drivers would be hired first.
CEO Elon Musk has long promoted autonomous driving as the key to Tesla’s future. While vehicle sales have recently been declining, Musk is undeterred in his plans to unveil a driverless ride-hailing service. He has promised to roll out such a service in Austin, Texas, by June, with plans to eventually make it available in California by the end of the year.
Tesla’s request is similar to the permit Waymo has, which runs a driverless fleet in San Francisco. Tesla already has permission to test autonomous cars with safety drivers in California but has not yet requested a driverless testing or deployment permit from the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
The entry of a Tesla-run ride-hailing service can diversify the company’s income streams in the face of downturns in its core car sales.
