Tesla reportedly fired Omead Afshar, its head of North American and European operations, in June following a massive drop in European EV deliveries. Afshar, who joined Tesla in 2017, was just promoted to the position in November. The Wall Street Journal described Afshar as one of Musk's closest confidants at the company.

Musk told analysts that the service will be available to probably “half of the population of the U.S. by the end of the year — that’s at least our goal, subject to regulatory approvals.”

Many prospective buyers have been turned off by Musk’s foray into right-wing politics, and the competition has ramped up in key markets such as Europe and China.

Tesla has not received approval from the CPUC to offer autonomous passenger service to customers, paid or unpaid, with or without a driver (nor has the company applied), Prosper explained in the emai...

The permit does not allow the company to run vehicles autonomously, the California Public Utilities Commission said.