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Probe after Austin rollout
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into whether 1,000 Tesla Cybercab vehicles were properly certified, examining the process and technical data Tesla relied on to claim compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards.
“opened an investigation into whether 1,000 Tesla (TSLA.O) Cybercab vehicles were properly certified”
The probe came after Tesla began commercial deployment of a small number of the two-seater Cybercabs in Austin, Texas on Thursday and said it planned to gradually expand the service to additional vehicles and locations.
NHTSA said the Cybercab lacks permanently attached conventional manual controls, including a steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal and mirrors, and it would examine the basis for Tesla’s certification and the extent to which Tesla determined certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards were not applicable.
Reuters reported that Tesla had 420 autonomous vehicles registered in Texas as of Friday morning, including 45 Cybercab vehicles, as the regulator’s review started in parallel with the rollout.
In a separate account of the same moment, the Austin American-Statesman said NHTSA was evaluating Tesla’s rollout in Texas and quoted an NHTSA spokesperson telling Reuters, "NHTSA is in contact with Tesla and is evaluating the situation."
Certification dispute and design
Tesla told NHTSA that the Cybercabs were totally compliant with all relevant federal motor vehicle safety standards, but Jalopnik said the regulator worried because the Cybercab’s only safety certification was Tesla’s word.
Jalopnik described the NHTSA investigation as focusing on whether Tesla’s certification depended on determinations that certain FMVSS are inapplicable to the Cybercab, and it quoted NHTSA pointing to the vehicle’s lack of permanently attached conventional manual controls.
The El Economista account said the Cybercab launched in Austin, Texas without mirrors and without a steering wheel or any human-action safety system such as pedals or frenos, and it said NHTSA opened an investigation about the criterion Tesla used to allow its circulation.
Reuters reported that NHTSA would examine the basis for Tesla’s certification and related issues, including the extent to which Tesla determined that certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards were not applicable to the vehicle.
CNBC similarly said NHTSA opened an audit into about 1,000 Tesla Cybercab vehicles, and it stated that the Cybercab lacks permanently attached conventional manual controls, including a steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal and mirrors.
What regulators and markets watch
Reuters said Tesla planned to gradually expand the service to additional vehicles and locations after the initial Austin deployment, while the regulator’s audit centered on the process and technical data behind Tesla’s certification claims.
“Las acciones de la compañía han llegado a caer más de un 5% en Wall Street”
The Austin American-Statesman reported that Tesla had released no new information about Cybercab beyond the limited area of Austin for its robotaxi service, and it noted that only 45 units so far are registered to operate as part of its Texas fleet.
El Economista said Tesla’s Austin event involved unusual secrecy, with contact with the press limited to 15 minutes of questions about price or the production process, and it added that Tesla’s shares had fallen more than 5% on Wall Street.
BigGo Finance said NHTSA would examine roughly 1,000 Cybercab units and focus on the process and technical data Tesla used to self-certify the vehicle against Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
In the same Reuters framing, NHTSA’s review also examined whether Tesla’s certification hinged on determining that certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards do not apply to the vehicle, a question that could shape how Tesla’s autonomous rollout proceeds in the U.S.