Uber has gotten it's way with a great deal of effort, and a world class legal team who are veterans by now at pushing around regulators. My theory may be incorrect, but I assure you, they've calculated their outs.

Tesla the company has a permit, individual Tesla users do not. If Uber had to get a $150 testing permit, well big deal. If every Tesla driver had to get a permit, that would be a meltdown for Tesla and Tesla owners.

I don't think this is true. The average Tesla costs what, $75000? $150 is 0.2% of the purchase price. People buying Teslas aren't people who are bothered by a $150 bar tab, let alone a $150 permit. In addition, many of them have emotional buy-in at this point (aka they have drank the Elon Kool-Aid) and driving a Tesla is as much a part of their identity as anything else. They won't be bothered by paying for a permit or having to go to the DMV to get one.

I believe Tesla charges at least $3,000 extra for self-driving Autopilot package. If it comes to it, they might be willing to just reimburse California residents the $150.

I don't know how it works in the USA but I would expect people to register their cars and show a driving license while doing so.

I think the argument they are trying to make is that every Tesla owner should get a permit.