NHTSA LAUNCHES PROBE INTO TESLA CYBERCAB AS PUBLIC RIDES BEGIN

Summary from the TLDR Hardware newsletter

Right as Tesla's steering-wheel-less Cybercab began offering public commercial rides in Austin, NHTSA opened a formal investigation into whether the vehicle was properly certified, reviewing the technical data and compliance procedures Tesla used to self-certify up to 1,000 units under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The core issue is hardware: the Cybercab has no steering wheel, pedals, or side-view mirrors, and automakers building vehicles without manual controls generally have to petition NHTSA for a regulatory exemption, a path Amazon's Zoox used successfully in July, but Tesla never filed one, instead self-certifying SAE Level 4 autonomy in Texas under new state rules and maintaining the Cybercab isn't subject to the standard 2,500-vehicle exemption cap.