Tesla Officially Launches Cybercab And Is Immediately Hit With NHTSA Safety Probe - Jalopnik

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After nearly two years, the Tesla Cybercab is here. Tesla, a company known for its huge flashy releases, quietly launched the Cybercab in Austin, Texas last night — not unlike the way it announced its first production line-built Cybercab, with a single photo of the car almost entirely obscured by workers. But, quiet or loud, we now live in a world that has Tesla's stupid little driverless two-door bronze liftback. Also, a world in which that stupid little liftback is already the subject of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation. 

According to Bloomberg, the Cybercab's near-silent launch has been marred by an NHTSA probe into whether the vehicle is actually safe for road use. See, Tesla told NHTSA that the Cybercabs are totally compliant with all relevant federal motor vehicle safety standards — everything's so kosher and above board, and the regulatory body shouldn't even worry about it. 

The regulator did worry, though, because the Cybercab's only safety certification is Tesla's word. It self-certified the cabs internally, and NHTSA doesn't trust the company's data. 

This is so stupid

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According to the NHTSA investigation, the administration "will consider the extent to which Tesla's
certification depended on determinations that certain FMVSS are inapplicable to the Cybercab." Essentially, Tesla decided that certain sections of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards didn't apply to its theoretically autonomous cab — presumably all those pesky sections relating to methods of actually controlling the car. 

The Cybercab sure appears to be a passenger vehicle under the law, but Tesla seems convinced that it's exempt. "The vehicles lack permanently attached, conventional manual controls, such as a brake pedal, gas pedal, steering wheel, and mirrors," NHTSA points out.

The investigation doesn't appear to have held up Tesla's rollout, so some truly unlucky users of Tesla's rideshare service in Austin will end up in this deeply stupid little coupe. The rest of us, even unluckier, will be forced to see these stupid cars trotting about our cities — and, presumably, we'll be forced to dodge them as they careen wildly into our crosswalks, businesses, vehicles, and bodies. Isn't living in the future fun?