Elon Musk is not answering the most important questions about the Tesla robotaxi

Will the Tesla robotaxi person a steering instrumentality oregon not? Elon Musk won’t say.

The Tesla CEO dodged respective questions during an net telephone Tuesday astir the presumption of the company’s long-promised autonomous vehicle, including whether it would person accepted controls similar pedals and steering wheels.

It’s an progressively important question near hovering implicit Tesla’s robotaxi plans, which person been already been delayed to let much enactment connected the prototype. Theoretically, a steering wheel- and pedal-less conveyance could instrumentality months, if not years, to beryllium approved for nationalist roads. A much accepted looking vehicle, meanwhile, could beryllium released a batch sooner.

That’s due to the fact that Tesla would request support from the national authorities to deploy a much radically designed robotaxi, which it acknowledges successful its missive to shareholders.

“Though timing of Robotaxi deployment depends connected technological advancement and regulatory approval, we are moving vigorously connected this accidental fixed the outsized imaginable value,” the company.

And yet erstwhile asked specifically astir which regulatory support Tesla would beryllium seeking, Musk declined to answer.

Specifically, helium was asked whether Tesla would question an exemption from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to deploy a conveyance without accepted controls. His effect was to comparison Tesla’s “generalized solution” with Waymo’s much “localized” one, which helium described arsenic “quite fragile.”

“Our solution is simply a wide solution that would enactment anywhere,” helium added. “It would adjacent enactment connected a antithetic Earth.”

Right now, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) necessitate cars to person basic, quality controls, similar steering wheels, pedals, sideview mirrors, and truthful on. These standards specify however vehicles indispensable beryllium designed earlier they tin beryllium sold successful the US. If a projected caller conveyance doesn’t comply with each existing FMVSS, manufacturers tin use for an exemption. But the authorities lone offers 2,500 exemptions per institution per year.

The headdress connected exemptions theoretically would forestall immoderate AV institution — Tesla included — from deploying purpose-built autonomous vehicles en masse. AV supporters person tried to walk authorities to assistance the headdress to let for much driverless vehicles connected nationalist roads, but the bill is stalled successful Congress implicit questions astir liability and readiness of the technology.

So far, only 1 institution has been granted an FMVSS exemption: Nuro, which uses them to deploy a tiny fig of driverless transportation robots successful Texas and California. Cruise, which is owned by GM, requested an FMVSS exemption for its steering wheel- and pedal-less Origin shuttle — but it was ne'er approved and present the Origin is on clasp indefinitely. Amazon’s Zoox said its autonomous shuttle was “self-certified,” which prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to unfastened an probe into what that means.

Other companies person opted to skip this measurement completely. Waymo’s driverless vehicles each person accepted controls, contempt operating connected nationalist roads without information drivers. The institution has said it would yet present a steering wheel-free vehicle, but it has yet to accidental erstwhile oregon whether it would question an FMVSS exemption.

All of which is to accidental that Tesla is facing akin regulatory hurdles, depending connected whether it decides to ditch the accepted controls oregon not. There person been hints dropped on the way, specified arsenic plan drawings showing the conveyance arsenic a steering wheel-free zone.

But Musk is staying uncharacteristically mum. We’ll person to hold until October to get a existent reply — oregon possibly adjacent later, pending further delays.