Two weeks after Tesla put the Cybercab into public service in Austin, the federal safety regulator wants a sworn explanation of why the car is allowed on the road at all. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued Tesla a Special Order asking it to show how a vehicle with no steering wheel, no pedals and no mirrors complies with safety standards that were written on the assumption that somebody would be driving.
This is not a polite letter. A Special Order is a legal instrument, answers must be given under oath, and Tesla has until September 30 to respond.
What NHTSA Is Asking For
The order is dated September 10 and, according to reporting by Electrek and others, is signed by NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser. It runs to 21 detailed requests. At its core is one demand: list every Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Tesla certified the Cybercab against, and explain in detail how the car meets each one.
That is harder than it sounds for a car without driver controls. Several of the standards named in reporting on the order assume a human at the wheel:
- FMVSS 135 requires service brakes applied by a foot control.
- FMVSS 101 and 102 cover the location of controls, warning lights and the gear position display.
- FMVSS 108 covers lighting, including turn signals that cancel as the steering wheel returns.
- FMVSS 111 sets requirements for mirrors and rear visibility.
- FMVSS 126 includes the telltale for electronic stability control.
None of those rules is exotic. They are the ordinary furniture of every car sold in America, and the Cybercab was designed specifically to do without most of it.
The Temporary Controls Question
The most pointed part of the order concerns hardware Tesla has used during development. Tesla's own first-responder guide confirms that "a number of Cybercabs" are fitted with a steering wheel and pedals for testing and validation. The wording matters, because it confirms some cars have those controls and others do not.
NHTSA wants to know whether Tesla relied on those temporarily attached controls when it certified the vehicle as compliant. If it did, the agency wants Tesla to explain how removing them afterwards squares with the Safety Act's prohibition on rendering required safety equipment inoperative.
The Route Tesla Did Not Take
There is a well-established way to put a car without conventional controls on public roads, and Tesla chose not to use it. Under the Part 555 exemption process, a manufacturer asks permission in advance to deploy a limited number of non-compliant vehicles.
Amazon's Zoox did exactly that. As Gizmodo reports, Zoox received a temporary exemption in July allowing it to deploy up to 2,500 vehicles a year for two years. Tesla instead appears to have certified the Cybercab as fully compliant, and the Special Order is effectively NHTSA asking Tesla to prove it.
Zoox asked permission first. Tesla certified the car itself, and now has to show its working. On the two routes to a driverless car
What Is at Stake
Failing to answer fully and truthfully carries civil penalties of up to roughly $139 million. That figure is a ceiling rather than a likely fine, but it signals how seriously the agency is treating the matter.
The larger risk is operational. If NHTSA concludes the Cybercab does not meet the standards it was certified to, Tesla could face a recall, a demand to seek an exemption after the fact, or pressure to add controls to a car designed around their absence. Any of those would slow a programme Tesla has positioned as central to its future.
The order also follows an earlier move. Gizmodo reports that NHTSA opened its initial inquiry on September 3, the same day the Cybercab's commercial service launched. The escalation from inquiry to sworn order took one week.
What Happens Next
Tesla's answers are due on September 30. NHTSA will then decide whether the explanations hold up. Tesla had not publicly commented on the order at the time of writing. Riders in Austin are not directly affected for now; nothing in the order suspends the service.
We covered the launch itself in Tesla Opens Cybercab to the Public as Driverless Fleet Passes a Million Miles, and we will update this story when Tesla's response becomes public.