Perhaps. A stringent application of the existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards would pose problems for Tesla’s proposed vehicle design in much the same way as Zoox’s. We had a very long talk about it last year, with some folks vigorously arguing that NHTSA would not take the position that they seem to have taken for Zoox:
But that determination was last year. Now that we have a different Administration, and a number of additional factors that might affect NHTSA decision-making, they might reach a different conclusion. The plain language of the FMVSS (and the fact that NHTSA appears to have now twice determined that they apply to driverless vehicles) might make it difficult for NHTSA to allow these types of vehicles without changing the regulations and/or getting Congress to act, but there will probably be a lot more interest in trying to find an accommodation now than there might have been in 2024.