NEW YORK – Federal safety officials have launched a review of Tesla’s newly introduced driverless taxi service, examining whether the company’s steering-wheel-free vehicles meet U.S. auto safety requirements just one day after rides began.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is assessing Tesla’s rollout of its so-called Cybercabs in Austin, Texas, where the two-seat autonomous vehicles are operating without traditional equipment such as steering wheels, side mirrors or brake pedals — features generally required in passenger vehicles under federal standards.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Cybercab service in Austin on Thursday with a highly staged launch, sending dozens of the sleek, futuristic robotaxis onto city roads while hosting an invitation-only event to mark the debut.
Shares of Tesla fell more than 5% to $357.38 in early Friday trading after word of the federal probe surfaced, wiping out much of the stock’s gains from the previous session.
Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Before the launch, Tesla had said it had relied on a self-certification procedure to make sure the Cybercabs were in compliance, but the agency apparently is unsure if the taxis do indeed meet standards. In its filing, the agency said it will now conduct an audit to “examine the process and technical data” that Tesla used in the certification.
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The Austin service Thursday kicked off what Musk says will be a national rollout of a cheap, driverless taxi service that he promises to transform the way people travel.
Musk plans to integrate Cybercabs, which lack manual controls so passengers could take over in an emergency, into the company’s existing cab service that up to now uses just normal Tesla vehicle. That robotaxi network has been operating in Austin for more than a year, but has also begun offering rides in five other Texas and Florida cities.
The company is facing several federal investigation into the safety of its self-driving software.
One probe is examining the software’s role in several Tesla crashes in fog, sun glare and other low-visibility conditions, including one in which a pedestrian was killed. Another is investigating dozens of incidents in which Teslas using partial self-driving software ran red lights or drove on the wrong side of the road, sometimes crashing into other vehicles and causing injuries. A third is examining why Tesla apparently violated regulatory requirements by failing to report crashes promptly.
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