Federal regulators have opened an investigation into Tesla and the company's steering-wheel-free Cybercab to determine whether it complies with safety standards.

Tesla launched the Cybercab, a two-seater gold coupe without pedals or mirrors, saying Thursday that customers in Austin, Texas can book rides through its Robotaxi ride-hailing app.

The vehicle's novel design potentially puts it in conflict with federal safety standards, which were developed for traditional motor vehicles by and large several decades ago. Tesla told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the Cybercab meets "all applicable" standards, the regulator said in a filing made public Friday.

But the regulator wants to examine the process and technical data that Tesla relied upon to make the compliance claim, according to the filing. NHTSA said it would conduct an audit and consider the extent to which Tesla's certification depended on determinations that certain standards are inapplicable to the Cybercab.

The probe sets up a potential clash between NHTSA and the carmaker, which has been angling to transition from making traditional electric vehicles to fully autonomous cars. Tesla told NHTSA that it plans to "gradually expand commercial deployment of the Cybercab to include additional vehicles and locations," the filing said.

If NHTSA determines the Cybercab isn't compliant with federal safety standards, the agency could order a recall to address any issues, after a series of procedural steps. Refusing such an order could expose Tesla to major fines.

Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. An NHTSA spokesman didn't have an immediate comment.