Tesla’s steering-wheel-free Cybercab robotaxis under safety review in the US

Tesla’s launch of paid robotaxi services in Austin, Texas, using its two-seater Cybercab vehicles—which lack steering wheels, pedals, and rearview mirrors—has triggered a federal safety review.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated an audit process for approximately 1,000 Cybercabs to examine how the company determined that these vehicles comply with federal safety standards. The focus of the investigation is on how Tesla interprets the “self-certification” mechanism within existing regulations.

In the US, automakers can put vehicles on public roads by self-certifying that they meet federal safety standards. However, current standards were largely drafted with human drivers in mind and are based on manual controls. The exemption process for vehicles that do not carry equipment such as steering wheels and pedals limits commercial use to 2,500 vehicles per year.

Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, argued that the Cybercab would not be subject to this annual limit. However, details regarding whether the company has filed an exemption request with the NHTSA have not been shared with the public. Experts point out that a broader legal debate may emerge between the company and the regulatory body over the interpretation of self-certification.

Elon Musk had announced that production of the Cybercab, which began in April, would increase “exponentially” later this year or next year, and that the vehicle’s retail price would be under $30,000. Tesla had previously offered paid robotaxi services in Texas and Florida limited to Model Y SUVs with manual controls; some vehicles also had backup human drivers.

The company states that the Full Self-Driving (FSD) software used in Cybercabs is up to 10 times safer than human drivers and that the service in Austin has not been involved in any fatal accidents. However, according to accounts from former Tesla employees, it is alleged that the autonomous driving software still struggles with some basic maneuvers.

A similar process previously came to the fore for Amazon’s Zoox. Zoox, which attempted to put its vehicle—which lacks a steering wheel and other driving controls—on the road via self-declaration, had to withdraw its declaration following an NHTSA investigation and was forced to obtain a federal exemption for limited commercial use.