Tesla was granted a permit in California allowing it to operate its own fleet of taxis driven by company employees, state officials said, the first in a step toward autonomous Tesla taxis.

Approved by the California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday, its new transporter charter-party carrier, or TCP permit, only allows it to use company-owned Teslas as taxis with employees as drivers.

The charter does not allow them to use Tesla’s Full Self Driving mode or operate driverless taxis like Waymo.

According to its application, the electric vehicle manufacturer will use the permit to move its own employees for now, and will tell the commission when it plans to transition to taxiing members of the public, commission spokesperson Terrie Prosper said.

As of Tuesday, Tesla has not applied for a ride-sharing permit — called a Transportation Network Company, or TNC — which would allow it to operate like Lyft or Uber. It has also not applied for the autonomous vehicle program, which would allow the company to taxi using FSD technology, with or without drivers.

The approval comes after weeks of public scrutiny on Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and his close operations in government with President Trump. Some have sold their cars or found ways to speak up against him with bumper stickers.

Others have staged protests at Tesla facilities, and several are charged with vandalizing Tesla’s property in what Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi called acts of “domestic terrorism” in a statement Tuesday.

Tesla’s share price was trading at $234, up about 4%, by mid-morning Wednesday but is down nearly 40% this year.

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.