Tesla’s autonomous Cybercab had barely begun carrying passengers in Austin before federal regulators opened an investigation into how the self-driving vehicle complies with U.S. safety standards.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today that it has opened an audit query, the same day Tesla began commercial deployment of a small number of Cybercabs in Austin. The two-seat gold car has no steering wheel, pedals or mirrors, relying on Tesla’s autonomous vehicle technology rather than a human driver.
Tesla told the agency that it had certified the Cybercab as complying with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, according to The Wall Street Journal. The agency is now examining the process and technical data Tesla used, including whether Tesla concluded that some federal safety requirements do not apply to it.
The probe highlights a regulatory challenge emerging as AI systems move from assisting human drivers to controlling vehicles designed without the equipment needed for a person to take over. Federal safety standards were largely written around vehicles with human drivers and conventional controls, while regulators are considering changes intended to accommodate autonomous vehicles.
Tesla launched the Cybercab as part of its Robotaxi service in Austin, allowing customers to book rides through the company’s app. Unlike many competing autonomous vehicles, Tesla’s system relies primarily on cameras and neural networks rather than lidar.
The NHTSA has proposed new rules that would remove requirements that self-driving vehicles must have manual pedals but those regulations are not yet in effect, the Journal said.
Amazon self-certified its Zoox robotaxi in 2022 as having met the NHTSA’s safety standards even if the vehicles didn’t have a steering wheel or pedals, but the agency discovered it did not comply with some standards. In July, Zoox received an exemption from the NHTSA but its cars cannot drive on roads with heavy rain or snow and must not travel faster than 45 miles per hour, the paper said.