Tesla robotaxi plāni Nevada virzīties uz priekšu ar testēšanas atļauju

Armed with a new permit from the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Tesla is set to begin testing its autonomous vehicle technology on public streets in Nevada. The testing permit, first spotted by Tesla Influencer Sawyer Merritt, comes two months after CEO Elon Musk outlined the company’s plans to take its autonomous vehicle ambitions beyond Austin and into several new markets.

“We expect to significantly increase the service area beyond what our competitors are doing, hopefully in a week or two. We’re getting regulatory approval to launch in the Bay Area, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and a few other places,” Musk said during Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call on July 23. “Once we get approvals and demonstrate safety, we’ll launch autonomous driving across most of the country. I think we’ll probably have autonomous driving in probably half of the US population by the end of the year. That’s at least our goal as far as regulatory approvals go.”

Tesla began offering driverless Model Y SUVs in Austin earlier this summer. The robotaxi service, which involves a Tesla employee sitting in the front passenger seat, began in south Austin. It has since expanded to cover more of the city.

Getting into Nevada for Tesla or any company hoping to test its autonomous vehicle technology on public streets is easy compared to California. Tesla and others must fill out a testing registry permit form, which is then reviewed and processed by the state DMV. The regulatory agency then issues a testing certificate, along with a set of red license plates for each vehicle listed on the package. Tesla received that certificate for Merritt.

Representatives with the Nevada DMV did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. This article will be updated if the agency shares new information.

To comply, companies must show proof that they maintain $5 million in insurance coverage under the agency’s rules. When companies are required to report all traffic accidents to the DMV within 10 days.

Nevada has a regulatory environment that is friendly to autonomous vehicles and has become a hotbed of industry activity. Ride-hailing and Lyft have been tested on public streets in Las Vegas for years, and Nuro has set up a closed test track in the state.

But it’s Zoox and its cube-like custom-built robo-taxis that have become synonymous with Las Vegas. Earlier this week, Zoox announced that it had opened its robo-taxis service to the public, although the rides will be free until the company receives regulatory approval to charge.

If Tesla wants to run a commercial robotaxi business, the company will need to take additional steps, including receiving approval from the Nevada Department of Transportation to operate as an autonomous vehicle network company.