Federal safety regulators have moved from asking questions about Tesla's Cybercab to demanding sworn answers. In a Special Order dated Sept. 10, 2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration directed Tesla to explain how it certified the robotaxi, which has no steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal or mirrors, as compliant with every applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. Tesla's response, signed under oath by a responsible company officer, was due Sept. 30.
The order escalates an audit query that NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened on Sept. 3, the day Tesla began commercial deployment of a small number of Cybercabs in Austin, Texas. The agency's file for audit query AQ26002 lists an estimated population of 1,000 vehicles and says NHTSA will examine "the process and technical data on which Tesla relied when certifying the Cybercab." Tesla also told the agency it plans to expand the Cybercab to more vehicles and locations.
What NHTSA wants to know
The Special Order, signed by NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser, contains 21 requests. Several go straight at the design. NHTSA asks Tesla to confirm whether a human can drive the Cybercab using temporarily attached controls, whether those temporary controls were part of Tesla's basis for certifying compliance, and how removing them squares with the federal law that bars making required safety equipment inoperative.
Other requests walk through standards written around a human driver: FMVSS No. 101 on controls and telltales, No. 102 on shift-position display, No. 108's requirement for a turn signal that cancels itself through steering-wheel rotation, No. 111 on mirrors and rearview images, and No. 126 on stability-control telltales. NHTSA also asks whether passengers can move the vehicle through controls on the touchscreen.
The sharpest question concerns brakes. NHTSA notes it has said publicly that a manufacturer of a vehicle without a foot-operated service brake could not certify to the light-vehicle brake standard, then asks Tesla to explain in detail how the Cybercab meets the first sentence of that requirement:
"The service brakes shall be activated by means of a foot control." — FMVSS No. 135, S5.3.1, as quoted in NHTSA's Sept. 10 Special Order to Tesla
The final request cites NHTSA's 2022 occupant-protection rule, which said further changes to the safety standards would likely be needed before a vehicle operated solely by an automated driving system could be built for sale, absent an exemption under 49 CFR Part 555. NHTSA asks Tesla how the Cybercab complies without one.
The stakes for Tesla
The U.S. does not pre-approve vehicle designs; automakers certify their own compliance, and NHTSA checks afterward. The order quotes the federal law that says a company may not issue that certification if, exercising reasonable care, it has reason to know the certificate is false or misleading in a material respect.
According to the order, failing to respond fully or truthfully can lead to a Justice Department referral and civil penalties of up to $27,874 per day, to a maximum of $139,356,994 for a related series of violations. Falsifying or withholding information can bring criminal penalties, including up to 15 years in prison.
An audit query is not a defect finding, and neither the investigation file nor the order announces any limit on Cybercab operations. The audit query remains open.
A regulatory path exists, but it is still being built
NHTSA is rewriting some of the rules at issue. On June 26, the agency proposed amending FMVSS No. 135 so that its manual brake-control requirements would apply only to vehicles that have manual driving controls, while stopping-distance requirements would still apply to every vehicle. Comments closed July 27, and the proposal is not final. Until it is, the current text applies.
A competitor took the exemption route. Electrek reported that in July, NHTSA granted Amazon's Zoox a Part 555 exemption covering eight standards, including the brake and mirror rules, with a cap of 2,500 vehicles a year.
The Cybercab is not Tesla's only open matter with the agency. NHTSA is also conducting an engineering analysis of Full Self-Driving's performance in reduced visibility that covers about 3.2 million vehicles, Electrek noted.
What it means for riders
The order asks Tesla to list every location where Cybercabs operate commercially or where it expects to operate them, and to describe how it plans to scale. How NHTSA responds to Tesla's answers will help determine how quickly the steering-wheel-free car can spread beyond selected parts of Austin, and whether other companies follow Tesla's self-certification approach or Zoox's exemption path.