Product1 publisher3 min readPublished
NHTSA gives Tesla until September 30 to justify certifying the Cybercab itself
A special order dated September 10 puts 21 questions to Tesla about how it decided which federal safety standards apply to a car with no steering wheel or pedals. An incomplete answer can cost about $139 million.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- The agency opened the underlying probe on Sept. 3, the same day Tesla began offering commercial Cybercab rides in Austin.
- Tesla has until Sept. 30 to answer, and a response that is not full or truthful can draw civil penalties of up to roughly $139 million.
- Zoox, whose robotaxi also has no traditional driving controls, was granted a temporary NHTSA exemption in July to deploy up to 2,500 vehicles a year for two years.
Compiled by The Product DeskSomething wrong?How this is made
Why it matters
- precedent If the order's final request states the operative rule, an exemption becomes the gate on commercial service for any vehicle built without driver controls, and the queue at NHTSA sets the launch date.
- exposure The document at risk is Tesla's own reasoning about which standards do not apply, and the penalty attaches to how the company describes that reasoning.
- constraint With the proposed pedal rule for automated-only vehicles still unfinished, there is no updated standard to certify against, so Tesla's argument has to run through rules drafted for human drivers.
- decision Anyone shipping on self-certification now has to decide whether their internal interpretation of an inapplicable rule is written down well enough to hand to a regulator on 20 days' notice.
Paid Cybercab rides in Austin started on September 3, and NHTSA opened its investigation the same day [1]. Its September 10 special order asks for "the process and technical data on which Tesla relied when certifying the Cybercab and related issues" [2]. The car lacks the steering wheel, rearview mirrors and pedals that some Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require [3].
The order contains 21 requests [4]. Request 10 asks Tesla to name any safety standard it believes does not apply to the Cybercab and explain why, including whether it thinks rules written for human-driven vehicles should not bind a fully autonomous car [5]. Request 19 points out that federal rules require a foot-operated brake and asks how the Cybercab complies without one [6]. The last request says fully autonomous vehicles currently need an exemption to operate commercially, and asks Tesla to explain how it complies without one [7]. Other requests ask how many Cybercabs are running and where they are deployed [8].
Amazon's Zoox builds without traditional driving controls too [9]. It took the paperwork route: a demonstration exemption in 2025, then a temporary exemption in July [10]. The July cap allows as many as 5,000 vehicles across the two years [1]. Morrison said "Zoox demonstrated that their vehicle design has an equivalent level of safety as a vehicle that meets all FMVSS" [11]. Tesla certified the vehicle itself and launched commercial service without applying [12].
NHTSA has proposed updating the brake pedal standard for vehicles designed to be driven only by an automated system, but has not finalised it [13]. Until it does, a pedal-less car has two arguments available: it satisfies rules written for human drivers, or it holds an exemption. "NHTSA fully supports the safe development and deployment of automated vehicles. But as the federal regulator, we need to ensure that all of our laws are followed," Morrison said when the investigation was announced [14]. Tesla and NHTSA did not immediately respond to Gizmodo's requests for comment [15].
The agency has said it is examining how much of Tesla's certification depended on the company deciding certain standards do not apply [16]. Two questions sort this for anyone else shipping into a regulated category. The first is whether your compliance rests on an interpretation your own team wrote. The second is whether an approved route existed and you skipped it. Zoox answered yes to the first and no to the second, and has a signed exemption to point at. Tesla answered yes to both. Its own reasoning is now the thing under examination.
Tesla has 20 days from the order to produce that reasoning [2]. A team in the same corner should be able to produce the same document on request: the list of rules you decided do not apply to your product, the reason for each, and the date and name attached to the decision.
What to watch
- Whether Tesla's Sept. 30 response argues the standards do not apply or applies for an exemption instead.
- Whether NHTSA finalises its proposed brake pedal update for automated-driving-only vehicles, giving a rule to certify against.
- Whether the agency acts on Cybercab operations in Austin while the certification probe is open.