Tesla Robotaxi may launch early as Elon Musk bags nationwide autonomous vehicle deregulation

Tesla's stock is up on the news that Elon Musk's autonomous vehicle deregulation push may be coming to fruition when the new White House administration takes over next quarter.

The Trump transition team is reportedly working to create a federal policy framework for autonomous vehicles that will let them on public roads much faster and in much greater quantities than current state regulations allow. The push may be led by former Uber exec Emil Michael, who is in the running for a Transportation Secretary. The resulting NHTSA rules will allegedly be enshrined in a federal legislation, with a bipartisan bill that will essentially ask Congress to ease regulations and spearhead the adoption of fully autonomous vehicles.

This should not only speed up the introduction of unsupervised FSD that will bring the Cybercab ride-share service to existing Tesla cars like the Model Y or Model 3 next year, but also the Robotaxi launch, which Musk initially pegged for 2026.

During Tesla's Q3 quarterly call, Elon Musk briefly explained why did he bet the house on the Trump campaign, and got a leading role in the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) agency.

There should be a federal approval process for autonomous vehicles. I mean, that's how the FMVSS has worked. Federal Motor Vehicle. The FMBSS is federal. It really needs to be a national approval is important. There's department of government efficiency. I'll try to help make that happen. And you said for everyone, not just Tesla, obviously. But just, like some things in the U.S. are state by state regulated, for example, insurance. And it's incredibly painful to do it state by state for 50 states. And, I think there should be a natural approval process for autonomy.

The Robotaxi is a fully autonomous two-seater electric vehicle with no pedals or steering wheel. It offers about 200 miles of range on a charge, but can't just be topped up on a Tesla wall connector at home, or even at a Supercharger, as it is Tesla's first EV with induction charging abilities.

Tesla eschewed the development of a more orthodox $25,000 electric car, tentatively called the Model 2, in order to bet the mass EV market house on cheap autonomous vehicles like the Robotaxi, and if Musk's deregulation push becomes federal legislation, this bet might pay off.