The Tesla Network is a forthcoming

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

ridehailing service A ridesharing company (or ridehailing service) is a company (or service offered by a company) that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire that, unlike taxis, cannot legally be hailed from the street. ...

being developed by

Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from h ...

for its vehicles, including the

Cybercab The Tesla Cybercab, also known as the Robotaxi, is an upcoming two-passenger car, two-passenger battery-electric self-driving car under development by Tesla Inc., Tesla. The vehicle is planned to be fully autonomous robot, autonomous. The prot ...

, the Robovan, and other personally-owned Tesla electric vehicles. Tesla revealed on October 23, 2024, during its investor call, that a Tesla ridehailing app has been in internal testing since early 2024, exclusively with Tesla employees in California, using driver-supervised Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

History

Tesla first mentioned a future

car sharing Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pr ...

service for its cars with autonomous control capability in 2016. CEO

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

stated that the car could then become income-generating for the owner while the owner pursued other activities. By 2018, Tesla was more explicit and indicated that the service would compete directly with companies like

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

and

Lyft Lyft, Inc. is an American company offering ride-hailing services, motorized scooters, and bicycle-sharing systems in the United States and Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic pricing model based on local supply and demand a ...

, but with the substantial difference that the 'Tesla Network' would be composed exclusively of

electric vehicles. In 2019, Musk clarified that car owners who allow their vehicles to be part of the Tesla Network would be able to manage their electric cars via a smartphone app and that existing Tesla-battery packs have a life expectancy of and upcoming batteries could go nearly twice as long, resulting in operating costs for owners of under 20 cents per mile, which would allow rides to be provided to customers for much less than the $2–3 per mile of traditional driver-operated ridesharing services. The Tesla Network is expected to work with all current Tesla vehicles, but is being focused on two new autonomous-only vehicles,

and Robovan, but would also support the Model 3 and Model Y, for owners who choose to allow their autonomous-capable vehicles to participate in the network.

Cybertruck The Tesla Cybertruck is a battery-electric full-size pickup truck manufactured by Tesla, Inc. since 2023. It was first unveiled as a prototype in November 2019, featuring a distinctive angular design composed of flat, unpainted stainless ste ...

, Model S and Model X will also be able to participate in the ridehailing network at a future time.

References

{{Tesla timeline Ridesharing companies of the United States Tesla, Inc.