Tesla drops 6% as Cybercab faces federal audit

Tesla Cybercabs stock crashed 6% in an hour this morning following news of a compliance audit.

Yesterday, Tesla commercially deployed Cybercabs onto public streets in Austin, Texas. By the end of the day, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) quietly opened a new probe, Audit Query AQ26002, of up to 1,000 Tesla vehicles, which would more than cover the company’s Cybercab fleet of only a few dozen vehicles.

Tesla stood behind its claim that “Cybercab is engineered to be the safest car on the road.”

The NHTSA doesn’t typically pre-approve vehicles for compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

Manufacturers self-certify compliance with FMVSS standards, or request a limited exemption in advance.

Whenever the NHTSA suspects non-compliance with FMVSS standards, the agency may probe conduct and pursue remedies. In Tesla’s case, the NHTSA said it “is opening this AQ to examine the process and technical data on which Tesla relied when certifying the Cybercab and related issues.”

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