The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an audit into roughly 1,000 Tesla Cybercab vehicles, questioning the data behind Tesla's safety certification of the steering-wheel-free vehicle. The probe lands the same week Tesla began commercial Cybercab rides in Austin and announced its robotaxi fleet had crossed 1 million unsupervised miles.
The U.S. auto safety regulator has opened an audit into about 1,000 Tesla Cybercab vehicles, examining the process and technical data Tesla used to claim the two-seater complies with federal vehicle safety standards. The probe follows Tesla's move on Thursday to begin commercial deployment of a small number of Cybercabs in Austin, Texas, with plans to gradually expand the service to more vehicles and locations.
What regulators are questioning
NHTSA said the Cybercab lacks permanently attached conventional manual controls, including a steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal and mirrors. The agency will examine the basis for Tesla's certification, including the extent to which the company determined certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards did not apply to the vehicle. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Texas state records show Tesla had 420 autonomous vehicles registered in the state as of Friday morning, including 45 Cybercabs.
A million driverless miles the same week
Separately, Tesla's robotaxi fleet crossed over 1 million miles of fully unsupervised driving, a milestone the company announced on September 3. Tesla had reported 380,000 unsupervised miles during its Q2 earnings call on July 22, meaning roughly 620,000 miles were added in about six weeks. The acceleration followed Tesla's shift, outside the San Francisco Bay Area, from having in-vehicle safety monitors to fully driverless operation.
Tesla's AI VP Ashok Elluswamy highlighted the milestone during a Cybercab event that doubled as the vehicle's public debut.
Fleet still small next to Waymo
The robotaxi service first launched in Austin around June 2025 with safety drivers and has since expanded into Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. Yet the fleet remains modest: Tesla is running approximately 200-plus unsupervised vehicles, a number that looks small next to Waymo's fleet of thousands of autonomous cars. Tesla says it has recorded no major safety incidents across the stretch of autonomous operation, though some isolated incidents have occurred and the company has not detailed their severity.
The NHTSA audit now runs alongside a stock market rollout Tesla has staked on a vehicle with no steering wheel, brake pedal or accelerator pedal.
Sources: CNBC, Crypto Briefing
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