Tesla's "Autopilot Core" Under Pressure: FSD Investigation Upgraded, Recall Risk Rising
Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" technology is facing an upgraded investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) due to multiple incidents indicating potential flaws in the system during reduced visibility. The NHTSA investigation has escalated to an engineering analysis, which could lead to a recall. The investigation shows that the number of accidents involving Tesla's FSD has increased from 4 to 9, and the system failed to timely warn drivers when visibility was limited. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that the success of autonomous driving technology will directly impact the company's value
According to the Zhitong Finance APP, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has upgraded its investigation into Tesla's (TSLA.US) partially automated driving system known as "Full Self-Driving" (FSD), citing multiple accidents that suggest the technology may have flaws in reduced visibility conditions. A memorandum published on NHTSA's website states that the review of these accidents has raised concerns that the system fails to detect road conditions and appropriately warn drivers when the visibility of the vehicle's cameras is compromised. This week, the agency escalated the investigation, which began in 2024, to what is known as an engineering analysis.
This move could provide grounds for NHTSA to ultimately seek a recall and intensifies scrutiny of the technology on which Tesla's future autonomous driving and self-driving taxi business relies. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that the company's ability to develop autonomous driving technology will ultimately determine whether the company's value is sky-high or "virtually worthless."
The latest memorandum released by NHTSA reveals that there have been a total of 9 accidents involving Tesla's autonomous driving system, up from 4 when the investigation was first initiated in 2024. In the accidents reviewed by NHTSA, "Tesla's FSD failed to detect common road conditions that affected its visibility and did not issue alerts when camera performance declined, only issuing warnings just before the accidents occurred."
NHTSA also noted that Tesla cited "limitations in data and labeling" while attempting to identify more similar incidents, which NHTSA believes may have led to an underestimation of the number of accidents during certain periods
