Tesla Cybercab faces US safety inquiry

US auto safety regulators have opened an inquiry into Tesla's driverless Cybercab, questioning how the company concluded that a vehicle with no steering wheel, pedals or mirrors meets federal safety rules.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a filing late Thursday that it would examine the process and technical data Tesla relied on when certifying the two-seat vehicle.

The announcement came hours after Tesla began deploying the Cybercab commercially in Austin, Texas, after a launch event.

In the United States, automakers certify their own vehicles as compliant with federal standards. Tesla notified NHTSA that it had certified the Cybercab as meeting all applicable standards and said it planned to widen deployment to more vehicles and locations.

NHTSA said it would review how much that certification relied on Tesla's own determinations that some standards do not apply to a car without permanently attached manual controls.

Tesla has promoted the Cybercab's safety and ease of use for disabled people, and said it was “democratizing clean transportation for all.”

Tesla began driverless service in Austin last year using Model Y SUVs and later expanded to cities in Texas, Florida and California. State rules require many of those vehicles to carry a human supervisor who can take over.

FSD Database, using Texas Department of Motor Vehicles data, said Tesla had registered 314 robotaxis in Texas as of Wednesday, including 45 Cybercabs.

Waymo, the self-driving vehicle subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, offers services in 11 US cities.