Policy · Regulation
Washington Opens a File: NHTSA Audits Cybercab Certification
The safety agency is examining the process and technical data Tesla used to self-certify a vehicle with no steering wheel and no pedals.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an audit of Tesla's Cybercab days after the first public rides in Austin.
The query covers "the process and technical data on which Tesla relied" when it self-certified the vehicles as meeting federal safety standards. Agency documents put the scope at an estimated 1,000 vehicles.
Cybercab has no steering wheel, no pedals, and no conventional side mirrors. Tesla notified NHTSA that it had certified the vehicles and planned a gradual commercial expansion.
NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the agency "fully supports the safe development and deployment of automated vehicles." A spokesperson said NHTSA was in contact with Tesla.
Zoox, Amazon's robotaxi unit, also fields vehicles without driver controls. Waymo, by contrast, runs retrofitted cars that still look like cars. Cybercab is the first Tesla that cannot be driven in the old way.
An audit is not a recall. It is the federal file that opens when a car like this reaches public streets. Tesla's Texas fleet of purpose-built cabs remains in the dozens while that file is open.
Priya Raman covers federal safety files, state permits, and the rules a wheel-less cab has to clear.
