Tesla aims to sell Cybercab robotaxis by year-end amid federal probe

Tesla plans to put Cybercab robotaxis in customers’ hands by the end of 2026. Federal safety regulators are asking pointed questions about the car at the same time.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an inquiry into how Tesla certified the Cybercab under federal safety rules.

What Tesla said on the earnings call

The timeline came up during Tesla’s Q3 2026 earnings call on October 21. Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, stressed the year-end delivery target.

Moravy framed the Cybercab as a pioneering model in Tesla’s shift toward delivering fully autonomous vehicles. The car has no steering wheel and no pedals.

Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s AI chief, laid out expansion plans. Tesla intends to bring Cybercab operations to Dallas in November 2026.

Elluswamy also described a goal of running 24/7 robotaxi service in several cities by year-end.

CEO Elon Musk indicated that most Cybercabs will be used inside Tesla’s own transport-as-a-service fleet rather than sold outright to consumers.

The NHTSA audit query

NHTSA confirmed it had opened an Audit Query, designated AQ26002. It focuses on Tesla’s self-certification of the Cybercab’s compliance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, known as FMVSS.

The probe specifically questions Tesla’s position that certain safety standards do not apply to the Cybercab. The sticking point is the cabin layout. The Cybercab lacks a steering wheel, pedals and mirrors, all controls that traditional vehicle standards were written around.

The inquiry covers up to 1,000 vehicles from the Cybercab fleet. It followed the commercial launch of Cybercab paid rides in Austin on September 3, 2026.

Since that launch, paid rides have grown quickly. Hundreds of the vehicles now appear in Texas DMV registries.

Tesla received a 30-day extension, pushing its response deadline to October 30, 2026.

Why the timing matters

The sequence of events is tight. Paid rides began in early September, the earnings call landed October 21, and Tesla’s answers to regulators are due nine days later.

Tesla then wants Dallas running in November and multi-city, around-the-clock service by December.

An audit query is a request for information, not a recall or a sales ban. Still, the questions go to the core of the product’s design. If regulators disagree with Tesla’s reading of which standards apply, the fix is not a software patch.