Tesla has recently opened job listings for vehicle operators in both Arizona and California, signaling it could be expanding its robotaxi service a month after it debuted in Austin to select customers.
On Thursday, the company told its staff via an internal memo that its robotaxi will launch in San Francisco over the weekend — anticipating the timeline previously mentioned by CEO Elon Musk.
According to a report by Business Insider, the launch in the Bay Area could happen “as soon as Friday.”
Previously asked about the expansion of the service to California, Musk said it was “probably” coming “in a month or two.”
Last week, he reinforced that the service would be arriving “as soon as the regulators approve” it, adding that “they are being quite reasonable.”
According to the memo, Tesla owners in SF will be sent an invite to use the paid ride-hailing service, and a safety driver will be present in the vehicle.
However, they will be in the driver’s seat and not on the passenger side — like in Austin — and will be able to control the vehicle through its steering wheel and pedals, if needed.
Tesla is looking for vehicle operators in both Tempe, Arizona, and Palo Alto, California.
The person will join the “vehicle data collection team” as a “Prototype Vehicle Operator,” which will be responsible for driving “an engineering vehicle for extended hours in a designated area for data collection, 5 to 8 hours daily.”
According to the offer in Palo Alto, the job requires “flexibility of traveling to domestic or international destinations,” which include “commutes between Palo Alto and San Francisco, as necessary.”
To launch its paid ride-hailing service in San Francisco, Tesla must obtain several permits from both the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
The CPUC said recently that the company had submitted a permit to provide a transportation service for employees. However, as of July 10, it had not yet applied for a commercial service to the public.
The company recently expanded the geofenced area of its robotaxi service in Austin, doubling the original service zone introduced in late June.
In San Francisco, the map will reportedly include Marin, the East Bay, San Francisco, and San Jose.
The EV maker aims to have “hundreds of thousands, if not over a million Teslas doing self-driving in the US” by the end of next year, according to Musk.
On Wednesday, during the earnings call that followed the second quarter financial report, Musk said that the company aims for the service to cover roughly half of the US population by the end of the year.
“We’re getting the regulatory permission to launch in the Bay Area, Nevada, Arizona, and a number of… Florida, a number of other places,” he said.
Last weekend, Elon Musk said that the Full Self Driving system will have a “step change improvement” as the company prepares to publicly release its robotaxi service.
According to Musk, the company still has to “validate that improvements for Austin don’t cause regressions elsewhere.”
Regarding updates on the release of the ride-hailing service outside of the US, Musk said that Tesla is still “awaiting regulatory approval, hopefully soon” in China and Europe.
