NHTSA Opens Probe Into Nearly 1,000 Tesla Cybercabs After Austin Launch

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation Friday into whether about 1,000 Tesla Cybercabs were properly certified under federal motor vehicle safety standards, Reuters reported, a day after Tesla began commercial Cybercab rides in Austin.

According to Reuters, NHTSA is examining the process and technical data Tesla used to claim compliance with those standards. The agency noted that Cybercab lacks permanently attached conventional manual controls, including a steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal, and mirrors, and said it will look at how Tesla decided certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards did not apply to the vehicle. Tesla did not immediately respond to the wire service for comment.

The timing lands on Tesla’s public debut week. The company hosted its invite-only Austin launch on September 3 and said public Cybercab rides would open Friday at 5:00 p.m. Central Time. Texas records cited by Reuters showed 420 autonomous vehicles registered to Tesla’s Robotaxi operation as of Friday morning, including 45 Cybercabs, matching the roster Tesla North tracked ahead of launch.

Federal rules still treat driver controls as a bright line. Fully self-driving vehicles generally do not need prior NHTSA approval if they keep required human controls, while the agency can grant petitions allowing up to 2,500 vehicles a year without those controls. NHTSA in June proposed dropping a manual brake-pedal requirement for self-driving cars and in July approved a limited Zoox petition for steering-wheel-free robotaxis. The Cybercab probe tests how far Tesla can go with a production vehicle that never had a driver cockpit in the first place, even as passengers start using the Rider Guide and Tesla builds out Robotaxi charging for scale.