Tesla Robotaxi's Next Stop: Not California, But Arizona

Tesla’s next stop for its Robotaxi program may be Arizona, not California, as the company seeks to expand its autonomous vehicle testing beyond Austin, Texas.

A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Transportation told CNBC on Thursday that Tesla has applied to test and operate autonomous vehicles “with and without human safety drivers” and has “expressed interest in operating within the Phoenix Metro area.” 

A decision on the application is expected by the end of July.

Tesla’s move follows a pilot program launched in June in Austin, where modified Model Y vehicles are supervised remotely and accompanied by a safety monitor seated in the front passenger seat. 

The Austin rollout has drawn attention after videos surfaced online showing Tesla Robotaxis violating traffic rules. In one case, a Tesla Robotaxi scraping a parked car — an incident captured by a Tesla-focused YouTube channel called Dirty Tesla. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reviewing the incidents.

Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet, has operated a commercial driverless Robotaxi fleet in the Phoenix area since 2020 and now runs 400 vehicles there, the company told CNBC.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on X that the company’s Robotaxi service would expand to the San Francisco Bay Area “probably in a month or two.” 

However, California regulators said Thursday that Tesla has not taken the required regulatory steps.

“To date, Tesla has not applied for either a driverless testing or deployment permit,” a spokesperson for the California Department of Motor Vehicles told Reuters. 

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said Tesla has not filed any new permit applications and currently holds only a transportation charter-party carrier permit. 

That license allows Tesla to operate a fleet of vehicles for pre-arranged employee transport, but not for public Robotaxi services.

California’s DMV sued Tesla in 2022, alleging the company made false claims about the self-driving capabilities of its vehicles in marketing materials.

Tesla contacted Arizona in late June to initiate the certification process for its autonomous vehicle ride-sharing service, Arizona’s transportation department said. A decision is expected by the end of the month.

The company is scheduled to hold its second-quarter earnings call on July 23, during which executives are expected to discuss the Robotaxi pilot.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Tesla was ‘bearish’ amid ‘high’ message volume.

The stock has declined 18.3% so far in 2025.

See also: Bitcoin's Breakout Supported By Retail Sentiment Reset

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