Tesla's Robotaxis Are Going Nowhere
This looks a bit suspicious…
The memification of Musk’s constant failure to deliver even a fraction of his self-driving promises has spiralled from funny to downright painful. I am convinced that this is what broke the public’s golden-boy perception of Musk more than anything else, and I’m including that ‘wave to the crowd’ moment. Musk’s questionable politics were tolerated for years until everyone realised he is full of s**t. But, somehow, these ‘untruths’ are getting worse, and I think I might know why.
For a while now, Musk has been saying that Tesla robotaxis are imminently coming to California, as soon as regulators give them permission. Back in October 2025, Musk said that robotaxis would be available in California “in a few months” and that they were “waiting on regulatory approval in California.” However, Reuters recently found that Tesla logged zero miles of autonomous test-driving on California roads in 2025. In fact, this marks the sixth year in a row Tesla has failed to clock any autonomous test miles in the state since getting a permit to do so.
Why does this matter? Because it indicates that regulators are waiting on Tesla, not the other way around, as Musk insinuates.
Tesla currently holds an ‘entry-level’ California DMV permit, allowing it to test autonomous vehicles on California roads with a safety driver in the driver’s seat. But, to even apply for a permit to test fully autonomous robotaxis, Tesla needs to log 50,000 miles of autonomous driving on public roads in California with a safety driver. Once it has obtained this next permit, it needs to undergo even more testing before being allowed to offer autonomous ride-hailing to the public.
However, that is likely an unrealistic minimum, as Reuters pointed out, Waymo logged 13 million miles of testing hours before it launched its driverless taxi service in California. Considering Waymo has historically been far safer than Tesla’s Robotaxi (read more here), it is fairly safe to assume Tesla will likely need to log even more testing with the California DMV to prove its safe enough to get a similar permit.
So, why hasn’t Tesla started logging these miles?
