US auto safety regulator opens probe into nearly 1,000 Tesla Cybercabs

Sept 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. ‌National ​Highway ​Traffic Safety Administration said it has opened an audit into about ‌1,000 Tesla Cybercab vehicles, examining the ⁠process and technical data the EV maker ‌relied on to claim ‌compliance with federal vehicle safety standards.

The probe comes after Tesla on Thursday began commercial deployment ​of a small number of the two-seater Cybercab in Austin, Texas, and said ⁠it planned to gradually expand the service to additional ​vehicles and locations.

NHTSA said the Cybercab lacks permanently attached conventional manual ​controls, including a steering ‌wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal and mirrors.

The agency said it ⁠would examine the basis for Tesla's certification and related issues, including the extent to ⁠which the company determined that certain Federal Motor ​Vehicle Safety Standards were not applicable to the vehicle.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request ‌for comment.

The EV maker had 420 autonomous vehicles registered in ‌Texas as of Friday morning, according ⁠to state records, ‌including 45 Cybercab vehicles.

(Reporting ​by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Vijay ‌Kishore)

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