Tesla expands into UK electricity supply and Bay Area Robotaxi

Tesla seeks UK license to supply electricity while advancing a broader Robotaxi push in California.

Tesla Expands UK Energy Service and Bay Area Robotaxi Rollout

Tesla has filed for a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, marking its first expansion outside the United States for its energy service, Tesla Electric. The plan mirrors a Texas model where Tesla already operates as a retail power supplier and runs a virtual power plant that links Powerwalls with the grid. Homeowners could charge their cars with cheaper electricity and sell excess energy during peak periods, turning home storage into a grid asset.

In the United Kingdom, Tesla aims to leverage a sizable existing base of Tesla owners and Powerwalls. If Ofgem approves the license, the service could begin in England, Scotland, and Wales after a regulatory review that could take up to nine months. Separately, Tesla is pushing its Robotaxi program in the San Francisco Bay Area, aiming to scale beyond its invite only beta to a fully open ride hailing service. Elon Musk has said the goal is to deploy more than 100 Teslas for autonomous ride hailing in the Bay Area, a target that faces branding and regulatory challenges in California. The Robotaxi app currently operates on iOS via TestFlight, with no Android version yet available, complicating a public rollout.

California regulators also shape the path forward for Robotaxi. Tesla cannot refer to the service as taxi or cab in the state, a constraint that has led to the branding Supervised Ride Hailing Service. The regulatory landscape is a reminder that speed to scale does not always equal speed to market, especially when safety and competition rules come into play. Yet the broader push signals a company trying to knit together car software, home energy storage, and grid services into a single energy ecosystem.

This is a strategic pivot that expands Tesla beyond manufacturing into energy services and software enabled infrastructure. If successful in the UK, Tesla could use the same framework to monetize customer owned batteries and cars as a distributed energy resource, reducing peak demand and providing a new revenue stream. The plan also highlights a growing belief that the value of electric vehicles lies not just in transport but in programmable energy assets.

But the path is not without risk. Regulatory delays, price controls, and customer protections may slow rollout in the UK and reduce early profits. In California, the regulatory climate remains uncertain, with branding and geofence hurdles likely to test how quickly Tesla can move from beta to broad public access. The company must balance innovation with reliability and consumer trust as it expands a model that blends shopping, storage, and supply in one app.

Highlights

The next year could reveal how far a tech focused energy model can rewrite the rules of both utility and transport.