The U.S. Department of Transport has proposed a federal regulatory adjustment that would allow “automated driving systems only” vehicles to be removed from brake pedals. The new scheme enters a 30-day public opinion period, after which the regulatory authority will decide whether to adopt it.
Current exemption path or weakened
This change will have a direct impact on the type of vehicle that is oriented towards a fully automatic driving design. Vehicles lacking manual control components such as pedals, in accordance with current federal motor vehicle safety standards, usually require a separate request for exemption from the Government, and even when approved, the number of accesses is limited.
The National Road Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the United States indicated that the removal of such hardware requirements would in theory allow the relevant enterprises to move automatic driving vehicles faster. The regulatory focus will shift from the retention of traditional driving components to actual vehicle safety performance.
Tesla Cybercab benefits most clearly.
This proposal is particularly direct for Tesla. Tesla has been developing a double auto-drive type of Cybercab in recent years, where positioning is free of steering wheel and pedals. Mask has indicated on previous occasions that, pending regulatory approval, the company will facilitate the deployment of such vehicles throughout the United States.
In the past, Tesla did not request an exemption from the Federal Government for such control components. If the new rules are set, Cybercab will be smoother in the future.
Zoox has been exempted once.
Zoox has been granted a federal exemption last year to demonstrate its customization. The company subsequently applied for a new exemption, hoping to put such vehicles into commercial operation, which is still pending.
By contrast, robotaxi, such as Waymo, based on the retrofitting of existing production vehicles, would have been easier to meet the current standards because of the maintenance of artificial controls and therefore less limited deployment.
Tesla's testing service in Texas.
While regulatory adjustments are advancing, Tesla has operated small-scale robotaxi services in Austin, Texas, over the past year. The service was initially staffed by security officers in the front row, and was subsequently gradually phased out of the vehicle warden and moved to “unsupervised” operations.
Tesla also admitted to NHTSA that the company would use remote operators to monitor and, in a few cases, move remotely in low-speed conditions, e.g. by intervening after a collision or to avoid barriers.