Tesla just scored permission from Arizona regulators to roll out its autonomous ride-hailing service with a safety monitor onboard. The company told investors it wanted to expand into 8 to 10 markets this year, and Arizona just became stop number three.
The approval is statewide, which is unusual. Regulators didn’t box Tesla into one city, even though the company will probably keep things tight in the early days. Phoenix and nearby suburbs have already seen test cars making the rounds as Tesla checks off its regulatory checklist.
Tesla plans to operate the service the same way it does in Austin, where a monitor sits in the passenger seat unless freeway routes are involved. That is different from California, where a monitor has to remain behind the wheel. Nevada and Florida are the next targets, and test vehicles have also been spotted in Pennsylvania.
Google’s Waymo is still the benchmark. It runs fully driverless rides in both Austin and the Bay Area. Tesla is not there yet, but Arizona gives it another proving ground and a larger runway as it tries to build out a robotaxi network at national scale.