The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating over 2 million Teslas due to safety concerns related to the vehicles’ Autopilot feature. This follows reports of crashes involving the company’s technology that allows drivers to remotely command their vehicles using a phone app.
The NHTSA announced on Tuesday that Tesla is being investigated after failures of its Autopilot system were reported. The agency also noted that Tesla had not reported any of the accidents prior to the investigation. Tesla is required to report crashes on public roads involving vehicles using its autonomous driving technology.
This latest probe follows an October investigation into Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system, prompted by crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that resulted in a pedestrian fatality. That investigation involves 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016-2024 model years.
According to the NHTSA, one driver has filed a complaint after a crash involving Tesla’s “Actually Smart Summon” technology. The agency is also looking into three similar incidents based on media reports, and has reviewed a total of twelve incidents reported by users of the technology. The vehicles failed to detect posts and other parked cars in each of the incidents, according to regulators.
Regulators stated that the vehicles struck objects because drivers had “too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement.”
Tesla Inc. shares experienced a decline of over 4% during late afternoon trading on Tuesday.
Musk has previously voiced concerns that U.S. regulations hinder the progress of self-driving car development. There are ethical concerns following reports that once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Musk will press for relaxed oversight of Tesla. Musk donated an estimated $250 million to Trump’s presidential campaign and is a frequent guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, vetting cabinet nominees and meeting with foreign leaders. Trump has enlisted Musk to lead an advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency, which will suggest cuts to government expenses and staff, as well as reduction of regulations.
The NHTSA also stated on Tuesday that it plans to investigate the maximum speeds Teslas can reach when utilizing the “summon” technology, along with restrictions on public roads and line of sight requirements. Additionally, the agency plans to assess “connectivity delays” with the app that could potentially lengthen stopping distances.
According to the owner’s manual for Tesla’s Model 3 the “summons” feature is intended exclusively for use in parking lots and private driveways, and is disabled on public roadways.
The scope of the new probe encompasses 2016-2025 Model S and X vehicles, plus 2017-2025 Model 3 and 2020-2025 Model Y vehicles equipped with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving driver assistance system.
