On May 8, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a formal inquiry into Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi fleet. The federal investigator agency requested Tesla to provide detailed information on the safety, design, and deployment of the company’s automated driving system (ADS). 

NHTSA officials showed their concerns about Tesla’s plan to begin robotaxi operations as early as June 2025 in Austin, Texas. The letter was written in accordance with the ongoing defect investigation (PE24031) into Tesla’s FSD system, particularly its performance in conditions with reduced roadway visibility. 

Tesla Announced Completion of Testing Phase in Austin 

In a post on X, Tesla announced completing FSD Supervised ride-hailing service. Under this service,  Tesla completed over 1.5k trips and 15 miles of driving. The Robotaxi service will be available in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area soon. 

NHTSA’s Information Demands from Tesla:

  • Identification of System Classification: NHTSA wrote to Tesla that it must clarify the specific systems used in its Robotaxi initiative and their classification under the SAE levels of driving automation.
  • Hardware and Software Architecture: Tesla is asked to describe its hardware and software configuration, including all sensors, compute subsystems, in-cabin monitoring tools, and remote supervision technologies.
  • Features Detail: NHTSA demands the number of vehicles to be deployed by Tesla, the models involved, testing locations, timelines for public availability, and whether any exemptions from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) are being sought.
  • Operational Design Domain (ODD): NHTSA required a breakdown of the robotaxi system’s operating limits, such as weather, time-of-day, or geographic restrictions, and how the system handles exits from those parameters.
  • Emergency Response: Tesla is asked to detail its emergency handling strategies, such as system failures and crashes. 

Currently, Waymo provides more than 200,000 paid passenger trips each week in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Tesla is also planning to share the market through its Robotaxi launch in Austin.