Nevada Clears 8,000 Robotaxis for Tesla, Waymo, Uber

The Nevada Transportation Authority voted unanimously on Thursday to approve three commercial permits allowing Tesla, Uber and Waymo to run paid driverless services in Clark County, the jurisdiction that contains Las Vegas. Tesla’s permit carries a ceiling of 5,000 vehicles, Waymo’s and Uber’s 1,000 each; added to the 100 Zoox already holds, the county has authorised roughly 8,000 robotaxis over the next twelve months.

The headline number is a ceiling, not a forecast, and Tesla said so itself. “The 5,000 has always been a ceiling for us,” Eric Early, chief engineer on Tesla’s Cybercab programme, told the authority, adding that “I don’t think we’ll be in a position by this time next year to deploy 5,000 vehicles.” His own expectation was around 2,500, “maybe a bit higher.” That is a notable piece of candour from a company whose autonomy timelines have historically run ahead of its deliveries.

The vote also reframes what looked like a setback earlier in the month. Reporting from Axios and Electrek in mid-August described Nevada capping Tesla’s Las Vegas driverless operation at ten vehicles against a 5,000-vehicle request, geofenced to the Strip, limited to 45 mph and barred from airport pickups. Thursday’s commercial permits sit on top of that earlier, narrower authorisation rather than replacing it, and they are what unlock the larger fleet ceilings.

Uber’s 1,000 vehicles will not be Uber’s own hardware. The company plans to operate through partnerships with Hyundai subsidiary Motional and with Zoox, and it has been the loudest advocate for a hybrid network in which human drivers and robotaxis share the same demand pool — a position Waymo and Tesla both reject in favour of pure autonomous fleets. Early deployment areas named at the hearing include the Golden Triangle between the airport and Las Vegas Boulevard, the downtown core where Motional will run, and the Town Square shopping district.

Not everyone in the room was in favour. Taxi operators and the Livery Operators Association opposed all three applications. “These applications raise two grave concerns,” the association’s attorney Kimberly Maxson-Rushton told the authority, pointing to “oversaturation of the commercial transportation industry” and “overcrowding of the roadways.” The authority approved them anyway, making Clark County one of the largest single robotaxi authorisations granted anywhere to date — on paper, at least, until the vehicles actually arrive.