Las Vegas visitors could soon share the roads with thousands of driverless taxis after the Nevada Transportation Authority approved commercial robotaxi permits for Tesla, Uber, and Waymo in Clark County. The three approvals together could put more than 7,000 autonomous vehicles on the road over the next 12 months, per PCMag's report on the permits.
Tesla received the largest allocation, with approval for up to 5,000 robotaxis, a significant jump from its previous limit of 10 vehicles, according to Intellectia.AI's coverage. The permit covers any use across Clark County and extends statewide if Tesla notifies the commission of expansion plans in advance.
During the NTA general session, Tesla's robotaxi engineering lead Eric Early said the 5,000 figure was always a ceiling, adding that the company would be happy reaching roughly 2,500 vehicles in the next year.
Waymo secured approval for up to 1,000 driverless vehicles over the next year, building on the permission Nevada granted it to operate fully autonomous vehicles in Las Vegas in July. Uber also received approval for 1,000 robotaxis across Clark County, which it will operate in partnership with Amazon's Zoox service and Hyundai's Motional subsidiary.
Together, the companies could deploy up to 8,000 autonomous vehicles on Nevada roads over the next 12 months. Uber is advocating a hybrid model that combines human drivers and robotaxis to ease integration and manage demand, while the permits open the door for Tesla, Waymo, Motional, and Zoox to expand their Las Vegas presence.
Reaching the top vehicle numbers statewide will be difficult for each brand, so the rollout will likely move slower than the approval figures suggest.
