Tesla Network

For Tesla's fast charging network, see Tesla Supercharger.

The Tesla Network is a forthcoming autonomous ridehailing service being developed by Tesla, Inc. for its vehicles, including the Cybercab, 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.^[1][2]

History

Tesla first mentioned a future car sharing service for its cars with autonomous control capability in 2016. CEO Elon Musk stated that the car could then become income-generating for the owner while the owner pursued other activities.^[3] By 2018, Tesla was more explicit and indicated that the service would compete directly with companies like Uber and Lyft, but with the substantial difference that the 'Tesla Network' would be composed exclusively of autonomous electric vehicles.^[4] 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 480,000–800,000 km (300,000–500,000 mi) 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.^[5]

The Tesla Network is expected to work with all current Tesla vehicles, but is being focused on two new autonomous-only vehicles, Cybercab 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.^[6][7] Cybertruck, Model S and Model X will also be able to participate in the ridehailing network at a future time.^[5]