The US Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has revealed that they contacted Tesla earlier last month requesting a drive on the company’s robotaxi service in Austin.
The information was published by the NHTSA on Thursday in an email sent to the company, stating that the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation had requested details about the service.
The regulator questioned Tesla regarding its driverless ride-hailing fleet in Austin, as well as the company’s plans for a public launch.
The agency also sought details about the service’s operational areas — including the current geofence, the anticipated geofence intended for public use, and the maximum operating speed.
NHTSA asked “whether Tesla anticipates that the in-vehicle operators will still be present in the vehicles when the robotaxi service becomes available for the general public” and what’s the role of remote operators.
The NHTSA did not disclose whether its request was approved but confirmed that Tesla responded with the requested information on Wednesday — which was treated as confidential.
Bloomberg reported earlier in June that the auto safety regulator was investigating whether the robotaxi service violated traffic laws on its first day offering paid rides in Austin.
The claims were based on videos posted on social media and on information gathered from Tesla.
In late July, the NHTSA closed a 14-month investigation on over twenty reports of collisions and unexpected behaviour from Waymo‘s self-driving vehicles.
The regulator decided not to take further action, saying that the Google subsidiary had already recalled over 1,000 vehicles in May to address software issues — which may have provoked the incidents.
Waymo operates a fleet of over 1,500 vehicles across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin.
Tesla started offering paid fully driverless rides in Austin in late June, with an initial fleet of about 10 Model Ys covering a five-mile radius service area.
The company has since expanded the geofenced area of its robotaxi service in Austin twice, plus introduced a dynamic pricing system based on distance, replacing the fixed fare structure.
In the Bay Area, the service was introduced late last month — however, due to stricter local regulations, the robotaxi operates with a safety monitor on the driver’s seat.
The company was spotted doing validation testing in Georgetown, about 30 miles north of Austin, earlier this Thursday.
