Source: Wall Street News
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday that it has launched an investigation against Tesla to determine whether the recall involving more than 2 million vehicles announced by the company in December last year was sufficient.
Tesla's recall is aimed at installing new protective measures for autonomous driving assistance systems. However, NHTSA said that some vehicles still had accidents even after installing the recall update software, and NHSTA conducted preliminary tests on the repaired vehicles, and the test results also supported the opening of an investigation.
According to NHTSA, it was discovered that “Tesla's driver intervention system is weak and not suitable for too loose autonomous driving operation capabilities,” leading to a “critical safety gap.” NHTSA also quoted Tesla's statement that “some of the fixes require car owners to opt in, and drivers can easily reverse it.”
The agency notes that although Tesla has released software updates to address related issues, it has not “included them in the scope of the recall or otherwise determined to address flaws that present an unreasonable security risk.”
The new recall investigation covers Model Y, X, S, 3 and Cybertruck models equipped with autonomous driving systems in the US market, involving models produced between 2012 and 2024, NHTSA said.
Furthermore, NHTSA also raised concerns about Tesla's autonomous driving system's name “Autopilot” on Friday, “which may cause drivers to misunderstand that the automation capacity is greater than it actually is, thereby overtrusting the automated system.” In fact, Tesla's autonomous driving is designed to enable cars to automatically steer, accelerate, and brake in the driveway, while enhanced autonomous driving can assist in changing lanes on motorways, but it doesn't fully automate the vehicle.
Tesla has yet to immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla's stock price and US stocks rose 0.27% intraday to $170.64 on Friday, falling short of the US stock market. According to earnings reports previously released by Tesla, revenue and profit fell short of expectations for three consecutive quarters. Revenue fell year-on-year for the first time in four years and recorded the biggest decline in 12 years. Profits fell short, and free cash flow was negative for the first time since the pandemic, but it said it would accelerate the launch of cheaper models and increase investment in AI as soon as early as next year. Tesla's stock price has fallen by more than 30% so far this year.
