Tesla gets more time to answer NHTSA's Cybercab questions

Tesla has more time to explain to federal regulators, under oath, how a car with no steering wheel, no pedals and no mirrors meets safety rules written for human drivers. The original deadline was Sept. 30. CNBC reported on Oct. 3 that Tesla had been granted an extension. No new date has been made public.

The outcome matters for anyone waiting on a Cybercab ride, and for Tesla's plans to build a lot of them. The question is whether Tesla can keep certifying the vehicle on its own, or whether it has to fall back on an exemption that caps how many it can put on the road.

How a launch day turned into a federal audit

Tesla started charging for Cybercab rides in Austin on Sept. 3. NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened an audit query, AQ26002, the same day. It covers an estimated 1,000 vehicles, and the filing says it was "prompted by public information".

The audit isn't about a crash. It looks at the process and technical data Tesla used to self-certify the Cybercab, including how much that certification depended on Tesla deciding certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS, the federal rulebook for cars) simply don't apply.

"We need to ensure that all of our laws are followed," NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said when the audit opened, while adding that the agency supports automated vehicles.

Twenty-one questions, under oath

On Sept. 10, NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser signed a special order with 21 requests. It asks how the Cybercab complies with six standards covering controls and warning lights, shift displays, turn signals, mirrors, stability-control telltales and brakes. The brake rule, FMVSS 135, says service brakes must be worked by a foot control. The Cybercab has no foot pedal.

Regulators also want to know whether Tesla used temporary manual controls during development and whether those were removed before the cars were delivered. Incomplete or false answers could bring civil penalties of up to $139 million, and lying under oath carries possible criminal charges.

Tesla can ask that parts of its response be kept confidential, so the public may never see much of it.

The fleet kept growing anyway

No stop-sale or suspension has been ordered, and Tesla hasn't slowed down. The number of Cybercabs approved for commercial service in Texas went from 45 at launch to 169 a month later, according to CNBC's reporting. Tesla also shipped roughly 45 Cybercabs and Model Y robotaxis to Houston in September. Some still had steering wheels, which suggests testing rather than a ready service.

The first month wasn't smooth. Riders complained about waits of more than 45 minutes, wrong pickup spots and problems with the doors. An Austin fire captain said the lack of manual controls and the unusual doors make emergency response harder.

Investors don't seem worried for now. Tesla shares closed Friday at $370.59, up 4.65%, after third-quarter deliveries of 486,532 beat estimates by about 25,000 vehicles.

Why the Zoox precedent should temper expectations

Amazon's Zoox went down this road first. Its audit lasted 29 months from start to finish, and it eventually took a Part 555 exemption. Those exemptions are limited to 2,500 vehicles a year, roughly 48 a week. That doesn't fit Tesla's goal of making the Cybercab its highest-volume vehicle.

The Transportation Department has proposed dropping the pedal requirement for self-driving vehicles, but until that rule is final, the current standards still apply.

What to watch: the new response date, whether NHTSA closes the audit or opens a formal investigation, and whether Houston service starts while the questions are still open.

If NHTSA ends up holding Tesla to the 2,500-a-year exemption cap Zoox lives under, would you still expect the robotaxi business to matter for Tesla any time soon?