Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares slipped roughly 1% on Tuesday after the U.S. auto safety regulator demanded detailed answers about its Cybercab robotaxi, including whether a human can operate the vehicle.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent Tesla a special order covering fleet size, operating cities, speed and road limits, and how Tesla determined which federal motor vehicle safety standards apply to the Cybercab.
The agency also asked whether the cars can be driven with temporarily attached human controls, and whether those add-ons were factored into the vehicle’s federal safety certification.
If Tesla later removes any such controls, the NHTSA wants a formal explanation under existing rules that prohibit making required equipment inoperative.
The two-seater Cybercab has no pedals or steering wheel, making it unlike any vehicle previously sold to the public by an automaker.
Tesla held a launch event for the Cybercab on September 3 in Austin and subsequently began offering public rides in limited parts of the city.
The regulator’s order probes rules written specifically for human-operated vehicles, including dashboard telltales, gear-position displays, self-canceling turn signals, mirrors, rearview cameras, electronic stability control lights, and the requirement that service brakes be activated by a foot control.
Failure to respond fully to the order could expose Tesla to a Justice Department lawsuit and civil penalties of up to $27,874 a day, capped at approximately $139 million for a related series of violations, according to the order.
Tesla must submit its response to the NHTSA by September 30.
The Cybercab sits at the center of CEO Elon Musk’s strategy to reposition Tesla from an electric vehicle manufacturer into a robotics and artificial intelligence company.
The vehicle relies entirely on Tesla’s full self-driving technology, which uses camera data alone to navigate public roads, distinguishing it from rival autonomous systems such as Waymo, which also deploy radar and lidar sensors.
In 2024, Musk said Tesla intends to sell the Cybercab for around $30,000 or less before 2027, though no automaker has ever brought a vehicle without steering controls or pedals to market.
The NHTSA is currently drafting new safety standards to accommodate autonomous vehicles, but those rules are not yet in place.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TSLA stock dropped from “bearish” to “extremely bearish” over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at normal levels.
TSLA shares have now fallen 21% year-to-date as regulatory uncertainty around the company’s autonomous vehicle ambitions continues to weigh on investor confidence.
