- NHTSA has opened an investigation into Tesla’s recall of more than 2 million electric vehicles
- Tesla was forced to introduce updated Autopilot software to get drivers’ attention
- The safety agency became increasingly concerned about reports of Tesla crashes, even after they were updated
America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into Tesla’s recent virtual recall of more than 2 million electric vehicles. The agency wants to examine whether Tesla’s changes to its Autopilot system go far enough to improve safety.
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]}; adpushup.que.push(function() { if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){ adpushup.triggerAd(“4d84e4c9-9937-4f84-82c0-c94544ee6f2a”); } else{ adpushup.triggerAd(” 6a782b01-facb-45f3-a88f-ddf1b1f97657″); } });
Tesla was forced to recall 2.03 million cars built between 2012 and 2024 after regulators ruled it was too easy for drivers to abuse the semi-autonomous Autopilot feature that is standard in every electric vehicle made by the automaker. Owners were not required to visit their dealers, but instead had their cars updated via an over-air patch that supposedly improved audio-visual warnings for the driver, reminding them of their attention and making it clearer when the system was no longer active .
Related: Tesla recalls 2 million cars in the US to make Autopilot ‘safer’
However, the NHTSA says it raised concerns about the adequacy of Tesla’s solution after accidents involving cars equipped with the new software. And the agency said it had tested updated versions of the electric vehicles on its own, presumably concluding that the new safety measures may not go far enough. Reuters Reports.
window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: ‘thumbnails-a-mid’, container: ‘taboola-mid-article’, placement: ‘Mid Article’, target_type: ‘mix’ });
window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: ‘thumbnails-oc-2×1’, container: ‘taboola-mid-article-thumbnails-organic’, placement: ‘Mid Article Thumbnails Organic’, target_type: ‘mix’ });
The NHTSA accused Tesla of providing independent updates to its cars in response to last year’s concerns and said it would now investigate why. Concern has also been raised that drivers appear to have the ability to enable or disable some of the security updates. The agency identified at least 13 crashes in the original investigation that resulted in one or more fatalities and many injuries that were caused in part by the driver’s misuse of Autopilot, NHTSA said.
Last week, a man was killed near Seattle when the motorcycle he was driving was struck by a 2022 Tesla Model S that was reportedly on Autopilot at the time of the collision. The driver of the car claimed the system was active but admitted he was looking at his phone and has since been charged with vehicular homicide.
Tesla – and the law – requires drivers using Level 2 autonomous technology to pay attention to the road and be ready to take control. Only drivers using more advanced Level 3 systems such as Mercedes’ Drive Pilot are allowed to fully transfer driving tasks to their cars, and only on selected roads at relatively low speeds.
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]}; adpushup.que.push(function() { if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){ adpushup.triggerAd(“5646c171-cb6e-4e2c-8440-49013ca72758″); } else{ adpushup.triggerAd(” e7c4c913-3924-4b2d-9279-6c00984dd130″); } });