Elon Musk, in classic fashion, unleashed a wave of hype and headlines on Wednesday when he casually posted on X that Tesla’s autonomous taxi service — which launched in minimal form in Austin, Texas, in June — is on its way to the Bay Area. “Waiting on regulatory approvals,” he posted, “but probably in a month or two.”
Don’t hold your breath.
Tesla hasn’t even applied yet for the necessary permits to bring the limited setup it launched in Austin to the Bay Area, California Department of Motor Vehicles spokesperson Jonathan Groveman told SFGATE on Friday. California has stricter requirements than Texas does when it comes to autonomous vehicles, and while Tesla does have the DMV permit for testing them with a safety driver, it doesn’t have the permits to test without a driver or to deploy them commercially. (In Austin’s launch, upgraded and driverless Model Ys drove around a group of chosen testers for $4.20 a ride, with Tesla employees in the passenger seats.)…