Tesla ride service can now hit public roads in California but not with the Cybercab

When Elon Musk announced the pedal-less Cybercab without a steering wheel, he mentioned that it will only go into mass production in 2026, and that is seemingly still the case, according to its chief engineer Lars Moravy in a recent interview.

At the time, however, Musk also promised that the unsupervised version of its FSD autonomous driving option will be coming to Tesla cars this year. Later, he specified that the first unsupervised FSD drives will happen in Austin in June.

Tesla has picked Texas as the inaugural state for its upcoming robotaxi ride-share service because it doesn't have any particular regulations about autonomous cars, and even started training the police and first responders there what to do when they meet a self-driving Tesla doing ride-share.

On the other end of the spectrum is California, which already has experience with a number of such services like Waymo, and has developed a robust system of regulations and permits around them. Tesla just scored the first such permit that it will need to operate a ride service in California, called the Transportation Charter-Party Carrier Permit (TCP).

Unlike the Transportation Network Company (TNC) permits of companies like Uber, the TCP one only allows Tesla to use its own vehicles and drivers. Tesla hasn't been granted California's Autonomous Vehicle passenger permits, and hasn't carried out the necessary tests with unsupervised FSD for the DMV there yet, so in the beginning Tesla staff will simply be chauffeuring other Tesla employees around.

Still, the TCP permit will allow Tesla to test unsupervised FSD on public roads in California, as well as the operation of its robotaxi ride-share app section, albeit with human drivers inside.

It remains to be seen when these tests will start, but the road to hailing Cybercabs or loaning one's own Tesla to earn revenue on its ride-share platform, is apparently going to be long and arduous, with the first such rides not scheduled before 2026 at the earliest, pending regulatory approval.

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