NHTSA Gives Tesla Until Sept. 30 to Answer Cybercab Control and Operating-Limit Questions, Reuters Reports

Update, Sept. 15, 2026: Reuters reports that NHTSA has given Tesla until Sept. 30 to answer more specific questions in the agency's Cybercab self-certification Audit Query, including whether temporary human-driver controls or other equipment formed part of Tesla's certification basis.¹

Reuters says NHTSA also asked whether Cybercabs can be driven by a human, whether occupants have touchscreen controls capable of moving the vehicle, and what maximum-speed, geographic, time-of-day or other operating restrictions apply.¹ Those are questions the regulator is reportedly asking, not findings that temporary controls were used, that a touchscreen movement control exists, or that Tesla violated a federal safety standard.

At The Charger has not independently obtained the newer NHTSA request described by Reuters. The Sept. 30 deadline and detailed question set therefore remain Reuters-attributed in this update. NHTSA's directly inspectable Sept. 4 announcement and AQ26002 opening resume continue to establish the underlying audit and its original scope.²³

What changed in the Cybercab audit

When NHTSA announced AQ26002 on Sept. 4, the agency said it would examine the process and technical data Tesla relied on to self-certify Cybercab to applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, including Tesla's determinations that some requirements may not apply to the vehicle.²³

The Sept. 15 Reuters report describes a more concrete next step. Rather than only identifying broad certification topics, NHTSA is reportedly asking what equipment may have been involved in certification, whether the vehicle has forms of human or occupant control, and what limits apply to its operation.¹

That distinction matters because the existence of a question does not establish its answer. NHTSA asking whether temporary human-driver controls were part of the certification basis does not establish that Tesla used such controls for certification.¹ Likewise, the reported questions about human drivability and touchscreen movement controls do not by themselves establish that a deployed Cybercab can be conventionally driven by a person.¹

What NHTSA's opening records already establish

NHTSA's AQ26002 opening resume lists the investigation as opened on Sept. 3, 2026 and gives an estimated Population: 1,000.³ That 1,000 figure is an estimated investigation population, not a count of Cybercabs operating in Austin and not a count of vehicles NHTSA has found noncompliant.³

The opening resume says Tesla notified NHTSA that it had certified deployed Cybercabs as compliant with applicable FMVSS and describes the deployed vehicles as lacking permanently attached conventional manual controls including a brake pedal, accelerator pedal and steering wheel.³ NHTSA's announcement says existing federal safety standards remain in force while the agency continues work on automated-vehicle rulemaking.²

The Sept. 4 announcement and opening resume reviewed by At The Charger do not announce a noncompliance finding, defect finding, recall, civil penalty, stop-service order, closure or final adverse determination.²³ Reuters' report of a new information request advances the audit, but it does not turn the investigation into a finding.

What remains unresolved

Reuters reports that Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the new questions.¹ At The Charger did not conduct that outreach.

The public record reviewed for this update does not establish whether Tesla relied on temporary controls when certifying Cybercab, whether the vehicle can be human-driven in the manner NHTSA is asking about, or what Tesla's answers will say about operating restrictions. It also does not establish that NHTSA has rejected Tesla's certification or ordered a recall, penalty or shutdown.¹²³

The next material evidence would be a directly inspectable copy of the new NHTSA request, a Tesla response or public filing, the Sept. 30 response itself if it becomes public, a change in AQ26002's scope or status, or an agency finding or closure. Until then, the supportable current state is narrower: the Cybercab self-certification audit remains open, and Reuters reports that NHTSA is now asking Tesla a more specific set of questions with a Sept. 30 response deadline.¹²³

Sources

Footnotes

1. "US agency orders Tesla to answer questions on Cybercab certification" — Reuters, Sept. 15, 2026. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/us-agency-orders-tesla-answer-questions-cybercab-certification-2026-09-15/ Reuters reports that NHTSA gave Tesla a Sept. 30 response deadline and asked about temporary human-driver controls or other certification equipment, human drivability, occupant touchscreen movement controls, and maximum-speed/geographic/time-of-day/other operating restrictions. Reuters also reports its own Tesla outreach result. At The Charger has not independently obtained the underlying request described in the report. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. "NHTSA Opens Investigation into Tesla Cybercab Self-Certification Following Austin Deployment" — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Sept. 4, 2026. https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/investigation-tesla-cybercab-self-certification NHTSA directly announces AQ26002 and describes the certification-process, technical-data and applicable-FMVSS scope. The announcement reviewed for this update does not contain the Sept. 30 deadline or the detailed Sept. 15 question set. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. "OVSC Resume — Investigation AQ26002, Tesla Cybercab FMVSS Certification" — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Defects Investigation / Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance; opened Sept. 3, 2026. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/2026/INOA-AQ26002-17078.pdf The official opening resume lists Population: 1,000 (Estimated), the Sept. 3 opening date, the initial certification scope and Tesla's notification about the deployed vehicle configuration. It predates the newer request described by Reuters and does not establish the Sept. 30 deadline or detailed questions. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸