Look Ma, No Hands, No Feet Needed in Contested Tesla Cybercab

The Tesla Cybercab just launched in Austin, Texas. It's a new gold-colored driverless car that doesn’t have a steering wheel or pedals. And it’s already under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The NHTSA announced the probe a day after Elon Musk rolled out his Cybercab fleet in the Texas capital. For now, the fleet has 49 robotaxis. Austin is the first of what he hopes will be a dozen US markets using the service by the end of 2026. NHTSA is investigating Tesla’s process for certifying itself. Tesla declared the new car has obeyed all federal safety rules. 

Car makers can ask for exemptions from some federal safety regulations. The rules were drafted many years ago on the assumption that cars must always have a human driver. Those safety standards include required pedals, gear shifters, manual wipers, and mirrors. None of those can be found in the Cybercab. Musk clearly didn’t want to wait. It can take years for the NHTSA to grant such exemptions.    

Amazon tried to certify its driverless Zoox itself. But it backed down after the NHTSA announced an audit of that process. It took three years for the NHTSA to award the exemption. 

Tesla is also under a separate NHTSA probe. That one is looking into its full self-driving software installed in 3.2 million cars. That investigation was launched in 2024 after a series of crashes. 

Early reviews of the Cybercab are strong. But riders say climbing into a car without a steering wheel or rear-view mirrors is odd.  

Motor Trend magazine gave it a thumbs up. But it also noted, “there are still a few quirks to be sorted out.”

“The self-driving is amazing,” said Jofel Tolosa. He's an editor at Motor Trend. “It’s a smooth and quiet ride.”        

Reflect: When has trying something brand new made you feel excited and nervous at the same time?

Photo of a gold-colored Tesla Cybercab from Reuters.