AUSTIN, Texas — Just days after Tesla launched Cybercabs in Austin, the driverless vehicles have driven themselves under U.S. Department of Transportation scrutiny over whether they meet federal safety standards.

CBS Austin reported Thursday that Tesla had deployed its gold-colored Cybercabs in Austin and begun picking up passengers through the company’s Robotaxi app.

According to Tesla’s website, Cybercab rides are currently limited to select areas of Austin. The two-seat vehicles have no steering wheel, accelerator pedal or brake pedal.

Tesla has operated a driverless Model Y Robotaxi service in Austin since June 2025, before adding Cybercabs to its fleet this month.

Riders use the Robotaxi app and the vehicle’s touchscreen to begin a trip, according to Tesla. The company says each Cybercab also has an emergency stop button that requests an immediate pull-over and connects riders to Robotaxi Support.

The vehicles’ features may attract Austin riders looking to try Tesla’s newest model, but they have also drawn the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA is the federal agency that sets vehicle safety standards and oversees whether automakers meet them. When there are questions about a company’s certification, NHTSA can investigate whether the vehicles comply with federal rules.

On Sept. 3, NHTSA announced it had opened an audit query into Tesla’s certification that the Cybercab meets all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards.

The audit query is not a recall or a finding that Cybercabs are unsafe. Instead, NHTSA is reviewing the technical information and process Tesla used to certify the vehicles, including whether the company determined some standards do not apply to vehicles without traditional human controls.

NHTSA said existing federal safety standards remain in force while the agency works to update rules for automated vehicles, including requirements involving brake pedals, windshield wipers, lighting and rearview mirrors.

“NHTSA fully supports the safe development and deployment of automated vehicles. But as the federal regulator, we need to ensure that all of our laws are followed,” NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said.

Tesla told NHTSA it plans to gradually expand commercial deployment of Cybercabs to additional vehicles and locations. The audit query lists an estimated vehicle population of 1,000 Cybercabs.

This is not the first time Tesla’s Austin Robotaxi operations have drawn NHTSA scrutiny. In May 2025, the agency sought information from Tesla about its planned Model Y Robotaxi service as part of a separate investigation into Full Self-Driving crashes in reduced-visibility conditions.

NHTSA has not announced a timeline for completing the audit query.

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CBS Austin has reached out to Tesla CEO Elon Musk for a statement about the safety of the vehicles.