Four Tesla FSD crashes spark NHTSA probe of 2.4 million vehicles

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a preliminary probe into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) service, following reports of several crashes in the U.S.

Driving the news: The agency has ramped up its focus on autonomous vehicles in recent years, previously investigating Tesla’s Autopilot system. That probe resulted in the recall of 2 million vehicles last December, which the company addressed through over-the-air (OTA) updates.

• This new probe Into FSD will examine the software’s ability to handle low-visibility conditions, impacting roughly 2.4 million units, according to the NHTSA.

• The regulator cited four collision reports, each taking place in low-visibility conditions, in its announcement, one of which was fatal.

• Tesla has previously faced legal action over accusations its Autopilot system contributed to the death of an Apple engineer in 2018. That case was settled out of court earlier this year.

Zooming in: The new probe may complicate Tesla’s recent shift toward autonomous vehicles.

• Last week, CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company’s robotaxi, which lacks a steering wheel and pedals. The executive also shared news of an upcoming update to Tesla’s FSD, which would allow its cars to operate “unsupervised.”

• While competing self-driving companies use a combination of systems including cameras, lidar and radar, Tesla vehicles currently rely on cameras alone.

• There is disagreement over whether cameras are reliable enough to handle conditions like nighttime or rain without backup systems to provide more data.

Bottom line: Should the NHTSA’s probe result in a recall, Tesla may be able to resolve the issue quickly through an OTA update as it did before. At the same time, the investigation comes at a time when the company is looking to bolster confidence in its self-driving software; the results could have a big impact on the direction its technology takes in the future.

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