"Tesla, Elon Musk's electric vehicle company, has abandoned plans to operate an autonomous vehicle fleet charging station in Jackson Square, a rare sign of AV encroachment being rebuffed in San Francisco. A few months ago, the project looked likely to happen. On Nov. 13, the San Francisco Planning Commission granted Tesla conditional use authorization to convert a public parking garage at 825 Sansome St. into a part-public, part-private structure that would house electric vehicle charging stations. The plans included chargers for a fleet of autonomous vehicles."
"Shortly thereafter, the Teamsters Local 665, one of the city's largest unions, appealed the commission's decision. Eight supervisors, a supermajority on the board, signed onto the Teamsters' appeal submitted in December, granting a public hearing. This provided a strong indication that eight - or more - supervisors would vote the Teamsters' way and rescind the authorization granted to Tesla by the city."
"At today's hearing, Tesla representatives stated they had dropped the project without specifying a reason. "Please be advised that Tesla will no longer be pursuing this project," a company representative wrote in an email to the Board of Supervisors last week. A Tesla rep who attended Tuesday's hearing provided no additional details as to why the company pumped the brakes on the project. The company, in another email reviewed by Mission Local, attributed its abrupt U-turn on the garage to "significant building constraints unrelated to the appeal." Tesla did not provide further comment when asked for more information by email. The Teamsters' appeal was granted unanimously by the Board of Supervisors, with minimal discussion. "Companies like Waymo, Zoox (which is Amazon) and today Tesla have decided they don't just want humans out of the driver's seat," wrote Tony Delorio, Principal Officer of Teamsters Local Union No. 665. "They want them out of the garages like 825 Sanso"
Tesla abandoned plans to operate an autonomous vehicle fleet charging station at a public parking garage in Jackson Square. The San Francisco Planning Commission had granted conditional use authorization on Nov. 13 to convert 825 Sansome St. into a mixed public-private charging facility that included chargers for an AV fleet. Teamsters Local 665 appealed the commission's decision, and eight supervisors supported the appeal, prompting a public hearing. Tesla informed the Board it would no longer pursue the project and later attributed the reversal to significant building constraints unrelated to the appeal. The Board unanimously granted the union's appeal.
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