Tesla presses ahead with Cybercab sales plan amid US probe

Tesla is planning to start selling its Cybercab robotaxis to the public by the end of this year, according to the company's engineering chief Lars Moravy, despite the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigating the vehicles. The Cybercab, a gold two-seater with butterfly doors and autonomous driving capabilities, is one of Elon Musk's key investments in turning Tesla into an AI and robotics company.

Moravy stated that Tesla aims to deliver fully designed autonomous vehicles to customers, and Cybercabs will be the first of such vehicles. The company plans to scale the production and deployment of Cybercabs after learning about delivery, ownership, and fleet management of autonomous vehicles in customer hands. NHTSA opened an investigation into Cybercabs to assess how Tesla ensured compliance with federal vehicle-safety regulations, which typically require manual controls.

Tesla can deploy the Cybercab on U.S. roads by self-certifying that it meets federal standards, as regulations in the U.S. are written for human-driven vehicles.