Tesla Cybercab under federal scrutiny as NHTSA challenges certification of 1,000 driverless vehicles | Today’s news

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into the certification of nearly 1,000 Tesla Cybercabs, putting the electric car maker’s newly launched driverless taxi program under immediate regulatory scrutiny.

Tesla Cybercab faces US safety probe just a day after launch

The investigation began when Tesla began commercial deployment of a small number of two-seat Cybercabs in Austin, Texas, on Thursday. The company said it intends to gradually expand the service, adding more vehicles and possibly transporting the robotic axle to other locations.

At the heart of NHTSA’s inquiry is a fundamental question: how did Tesla certify a vehicle designed to operate without a human driver when it lacks the conventional controls normally associated with a car on the road?

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The Cybercab does not have a permanently attached steering wheel, brake pedal, gas pedal or conventional mirrors. NHTSA said it was reviewing the process and technical information Tesla relied on to certify vehicles as meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards. It will also consider how Tesla found that some of these standards do not apply to the Cybercab.

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Why is Tesla in this difficult position?

Timing is significant. The company is trying to make Cybercab the centerpiece of a much larger robotaxi business, but the regulatory framework governing vehicles without human control is still being reshaped.

Under the current system, manufacturers generally self-certify that vehicles meet federal motor vehicle safety standards. However, the Cybercab’s unusual design puts Tesla in a more complicated position, as many existing standards were written around vehicles that have a person behind the wheel.

NHTSA itself was moving to change these rules. In June, the agency proposed removing the requirement for conventional handbrake pedals from certain self-driving vehicles and is considering other changes that would allow autonomous vehicles to be built without equipment designed for human drivers.

This makes the Cybercab investigation particularly noteworthy. Regulators are working on rules that would make similar vehicles easier to deploy, while Tesla has already put its own interpretation of the current rules into practice.

There is already a recent example of a different approach.

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In July, the NHTSA approved a petition by autonomous vehicle unit Amazon Zoox to allow limited commercial deployment of its steering-less robotic axis. Federal law gives the agency the power to grant exemptions covering up to 2,500 vehicles per manufacturer each year if required safety equipment is not present. Reuters reported that Zoox’s decision was the first such approval for a new self-driving autonomous vehicle.

Tesla, on the other hand, relied on its own certification for the Cybercab vehicles now in service.

The difference can prove important when a company is trying to expand. Texas records showed that as of Friday morning, 420 Tesla autonomous vehicles were registered in the state, including 45 Cybercabs. So the current Cybercab operation is still small, but the NHTSA audit covers a much larger population of vehicles and could affect Tesla’s future deployment plans.

The Austin launch alone marks a significant step for Tesla’s autonomous driving ambitions. Unlike the company’s existing robotaxi operations, which use modified Model Y vehicles that retain conventional controls, the Cybercab was designed from the ground up with the idea that no human driver would be needed.

Tesla’s approach also places considerable weight on software and on-board sensors, rather than giving passengers a conventional way to take control. The absence of a steering wheel and pedals is central to the vehicle’s design rather than an optional feature.

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For Tesla, the regulatory question now comes at the same time as a commercial test. The company wants to demonstrate that a purpose-built vehicle without traditional controls can operate safely on public roads and eventually be deployed on a large scale.

NHTSA’s investigation alone did not prove that the Cybercab was unsafe or that Tesla violated federal law. It is an examination of the certification process and the technical basis for Tesla’s claims.

But with the first vehicles already carrying passengers in Austin, the outcome could determine how quickly Tesla can turn its driverless car ambitions into wider commercial operation.