Tesla takes important step to making Cybercab real as embattled electric car pioneer faces challenges on nearly every front with the rise of BYD, Geely and Leapmotor

Tesla has secured its first permits required to make its future Cybercab autonomous hailing service real.

According to Reuters, Tesla received a transportation charter party carrier permit from the California Public Utilities commission, which allows the brand to operate an app-based rideshare fleet service for pre-arranged trips.

This is important, as it is the first step in the brand moving toward offering an autonomous rival to the likes of Uber, with Cybercab rides theoretically ordered via the Tesla app, with Tesla owning and operating the fleet.

However, it is noted by multiple outlets that this permit doesn’t authorise the company to operate autonomous rides, and the version given to the brand only allows it to provide rides to employees and not the general public.

The company will need to apply for multiple different permits which will allow it to run a public ride-hailing service like Uber, but also one to allow it to run autonomous vehicles like Waymo, which already operates several geofenced robotaxi services in multiple American cities.

Controversial Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in January the company planned to have self-driving cars on the road in Texas as early as June of 2025, telling Tesla investors that 2025 will be “the most important year in Tesla’s history.”

According to a separate Reuters report, there is nothing in Texas law that would stop Tesla from operating a robotaxi service in the state, so long as the vehicles are registered and insured.

The Cybercab was revealed in October of 2024 at a Tesla event titled 'We Robot' with Musk saying the driverless vehicle would enter production “before 2027” alleging that the price will be lower than AU$45,000 for private buyers.

Musk pitched the Cybercab as a form of “individualised mass transit” which he claimed would be more affordable per mile than a bus to run. He said buyers would be able to rent their vehicle out when they weren’t using it. Strangely, Musk also added that the powerful computers the Cybercab will need for its autonomous driving functions could also be used by the company to be a part of a cloud computing service while the vehicle is not in use.

Strangely for a purpose-built rideshare vehicle, the Cybercab takes the form of a two-door two-seat coupe, the version shown even having supercar-like scissor doors.

At the time, the brand also showed a Robovan mini bus which could “carry up to 20 people.”

Musk also claimed the current Model 3 and Model Y will eventually be able to support robotic taxi functions via over-the-air updates “wherever regulators will approve it” but has since admitted the 'Hardware 3' computer in current vehicles is not capable of supporting the ‘Full Self Driving’ (FSD) software despite the brand continuing to sell it as a $10,100 option on Australian-delivered vehicles.

Tesla sales are down a whopping 71.9 per cent compared to this time last year, a drop likely due to several factors, including a general retraction of the EV market in Australia as well as many buyers waiting for delivery of the updated version of its best-selling Model Y SUV. However, the brand’s chances of recovery to the point where it continues to dominate the EV market are questionable, as Musk’s political activities abroad have polarised potential buyers.

In the meantime, the brand has also taken the previously-unprecedented step of releasing an even more basic version of the Model 3 in Mexico (swapping the leather seat trim for cloth, as well as removing the rear screen and heated seats). A recent report suggested Chinese-built Model Ys will undergo a similar de-specification as the brand chases further price-competitiveness with an increasing field of Chinese rivals.