Musk Puts Regulations to the Test with Tesla's Autonomous Taxis

 

Tesla's race to deploy its self-driving CyberCab taxis will put regulatory boundaries to the test as the electric car maker begins its rides in these two-seater sports cars that operate without steering wheels, pedals, or mirrors, Reuters reported.

Just hours after an event in downtown Austin, Texas, to celebrate the service's launch, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it had begun an audit of approximately 1,000 CyberCab vehicles to assess how Tesla determines compliance with federal vehicle safety regulations.

U.S. regulators restrict the use of commercial vehicles that do not meet older federal safety standards, designed for human-driven vehicles that require manual control. But industry experts have suggested that regulatory loopholes and Elon Musk's history of litigation could give Tesla an opportunity to push the CyberCab into widespread use.

Amidst great public enthusiasm and social media buzz in downtown Austin, CyberCab vehicles were added to Tesla's fleet of autonomous taxis, which currently operates its best-selling Model Y SUVs. Tesla announced that CyberCab is available to everyone, and executives outlined pricing plans, without specifying whether they would begin charging fees.

The gold CyberCube with its hinged doors embodies Musk’s strategy of betting on self-driving software and robotics. This bet has propelled the company’s stock to $1.4 trillion, more than the combined market capitalization of many of the world’s largest automakers.

Unlike most other countries, where new car models and technologies require regulatory approval before being released to the market, U.S. automakers can deploy them on public roads once they have self-certified that they meet federal safety standards.

“I don’t think there’s any logical explanation that would suggest the CyberCube meets federal vehicle safety standards,” says Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group.

While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is accelerating changes to vehicle safety standards and working separately on new regulations to accommodate self-driving vehicles, experts say its efforts are likely to take longer than expected to achieve the desired results compared to what Elon Musk has promised.

But Musk is known for not waiting for regulations to be implemented. “Tesla has always tested and pushed the boundaries of regulations,” says Philip Koopman, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on self-driving vehicle safety. “I fully expect Tesla to test these boundaries again.”

Kopman adds that Musk might come up with a creative interpretation of vehicle regulations, claim that CyberCab vehicles comply with federal standards, and then flood the market with them. “It could take years for NHTSA or other state regulators to resolve this,” he continues. “In the meantime, Tesla could be operating on public roads.”