A report shared over the weekend claims that the transition team for President-elect Donald Trump is looking to create a federal framework for self-driving vehicles—and to make the sector a top priority in the upcoming term.
Trump’s transition team is looking to create federal rules for the rollout of autonomous vehicles, according to people familiar with the matter in a report from Bloomberg on Sunday. The news comes as Tesla and others are developing and deploying autonomous vehicles, and as Elon Musk has officially been named a co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for the Trump administration.
The sources also said that autonomy laws would be a major priority for the U.S. Department of Transportation after past efforts to increase the number of available permits for self-driving vehicles have been thwarted. According to additional people familiar with the matter who spoke under the condition of anonymity, the Trump team is also actively looking to find policy leaders to help develop the guidelines.
Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) lets manufacturers deploy as many as 2,500 self-driving vehicles per year under a granted exemption, though attempts to increase allowed units to 100,000 have been unsuccessful. Self-driving vehicles without a steering wheel or accelerator pedals—such as Tesla’s recently unveiled Cybercab—aren’t currently permitted to be deployed en masse, but many think that such a move from Trump could accelerate the deployment of the technology.
Tesla, Waymo, and others developing self-driving vehicles
Currently, Tesla owners can purchase and use the company’s Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) to access semi-autonomous driving, though drivers are expected to be attentive and prepared to retake control of the vehicle at any moment. Tesla also unveiled its two-seat Cybercab last month, expected to be based on FSD and to enter production in 2026.
Below you can see our first ride in the Cybercab from the We, Robot unveiling event.
🎥: Our FULL first ride in the @Tesla Cybercab pic.twitter.com/6gR7OgKRCz— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 11, 2024
While Tesla doesn’t currently operate a paid ride-hailing service like the Alphabet-owned Waymo, or others working toward this model, the company has teased an app based on an FSD ride-hailing service in the past. Additionally, many within the Tesla community claim that FSD will be more scalable than its competitors, due in part to its training of an AI neural network using millions of clips of real-time driving footage from FSD Supervised users.
Other companies such as Amazon-owned Zoox, General Motors-run (GM-run) Cruise, and still many others have also deployed driverless ride-hailing services to varying degrees of success. While California has been one of a few states where self-driving services have been able to start deployment in limited quantities, autonomous driving has also come under fire from regulators and authorities following a few cases of accidents and traffic violations.
Nonetheless, the development of a federal framework for autonomous vehicles could affect how this happens on a national level—and it will likely come to the benefit of Musk and Tesla, especially given the CEO’s closeness with Trump.
Tesla’s next step of dominance comes from Trump EV tax credit policy: Wedbush
Elon Musk and Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency
Musk will lead Trump’s newly created DOGE division in tandem with Vivek Ramaswamy, with the department aiming to “dismantle government bureaucracy” and cut down on government spending. The Tesla CEO initially endorsed Trump in July during his presidential campaign, later forming the political action committee (PAC) America PAC in support of the now-President-elect.
In addition to the financial support, Musk was a vocal backer of Trump’s campaign at rallies and in online media appearances, saying last month that Trump “must win to preserve the Constitution and democracy.” Many have also debated whether Trump’s removal of the federal $7,500 electric vehicle (EV) tax credit would be bad for Tesla and other EV makers, though Musk has said that it will likely only benefit Tesla.
The recent support for Trump also follows an ongoing set of feuds Musk has had with President Joe Biden during his presidency, as was sparked by Tesla not being invited to the administration’s EV summit, and by Biden claiming that GM had been the leader in EV deployment. Musk said in July that Biden is “utterly controlled” by the United Automotive Workers (UAW), following multiple criticisms of the union in the past.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Former Tesla executive warns of delays to European ADAS regulations
Cybertruck
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
Tesla’s new Cybertruck offering has had its delivery date pushed back once again. This is now the second time, and deliveries for the newest orders are now pushed well into 2027.
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
🚨 Tesla has updated the $59,990 Cybertruck Dual Motor AWD’s estimated delivery date to April 2027.
First deliveries are still slated for June, but if you order it now, you’ll be waiting over a year.
Demand appears to be off the charts for the new Cybertruck and consumers are… pic.twitter.com/raDCCeC0zP
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 26, 2026
Just three days ago, the initial delivery date of June 2026 was pushed back to early Fall, and now, that date has officially moved to April 2027.
The fact that Tesla has had to push back deliveries once again proves one of two things: either Tesla has slow production plans for the new Cybertruck trim, or demand is off the charts.
Judging by how Tesla is already planning to raise the price based on demand in just a few days, it seems like the company knows it is giving a tremendous deal on this spec of Cybertruck, and units are moving quickly.
That points more toward demand and not necessarily to slower production plans, but it is not confirmed.
Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim will undergo massive change in ten days, Musk says
Tesla is set to hike the price on March 1, so tomorrow will be the final day to grab the new Cybertruck trim for just $59,990.
It features:
- Dual Motor AWD w/ est. 325 mi of range
- Powered tonneau cover
- Bed outlets (2x 120V + 1x 240V) & Powershare capability
- Coil springs w/ adaptive damping
- Heated first-row seats w/ textile material that is easy to clean
- Steer-by-wire & Four Wheel Steering
- 6’ x 4’ composite bed
- Towing capacity of up to 7,500 lbs
- Powered frunk
Interestingly, the price offering is fairly close to what Tesla unveiled back in late 2019.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
Elon Musk has clarified when SpaceX will first attempt to catch Starship’s upper stage with its launch tower. The CEO’s update provides the clearest teaser yet for the spacecraft’s recovery roadmap.
Musk shared the details in recent posts on X. In his initial post, Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
“Starship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability,” Musk wrote.
In a follow-up post, Musk addressed when SpaceX would attempt to catch the upper stage using the launch tower’s robotic arms.
“Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low,” Musk clarified.
His remarks suggest that SpaceX is deliberately reducing risk before attempting a tower catch of Starship’s upper stage. Such a milestone would mark a major step towards the full reuse of the Starship system.
SpaceX is currently targeting the first Starship V3 flight of 2026 this coming March. The spacecraft’s V3 iteration is widely viewed as a key milestone in SpaceX’s long-term strategy to make Starship fully reusable.
Starship V3 features a number of key upgrades over its previous iterations. The vehicle is equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor V3 engines, which are designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight.
The V3 design is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale the spacecraft’s production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars.
News
Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that Full Self-Driving (FSD) could receive regulatory approval in the Netherlands as soon as March 20, potentially marking a major step forward for Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance rollout in Europe.
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin, noting that the date was provided by local authorities.
“Tesla has the most advanced real-world AI, and hopefully, it will be approved soon in Europe. We’re told by the authorities that March 20th, it’ll be approved in the Netherlands,’ what I was told,” Musk stated.
“Hopefully, that date remains the same. But I think people in Europe are going to be pretty blown away by how good the Tesla car AI is in being able to drive.”
Tesla’s FSD system relies on vision-based neural networks trained on real-world driving data, allowing vehicles to navigate using cameras and AI rather than traditional sensor-heavy solutions.
The performance of FSD Supervised has so far been impressive. As per Tesla’s safety report, Full Self-Driving Supervised has already traveled 8.3 billion miles. So far, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles.
In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.
If approval is granted on March 20, the Netherlands could become the first European market to greenlight Tesla’s latest supervised FSD (Supervised) software under updated regulatory frameworks. Tesla has been working to secure expanded FSD access across Europe, where regulatory standards differ significantly from those in the United States. Approval in the Netherlands would likely serve as a foundation for broader EU adoption, though additional country-level clearances may still be required.
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
