Stop us if you’ve heard this before: the NHTSA is looking into concerns over Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature. If you’re left with an overwhelming sense of deja vu here, there’s a very good reason for that — as Ars Technica’s Jonathan M. Gitlin reports, this latest investigation is the 14th time the agency has opened an investigation into the automaker’s high-profile system.
According to the agency’s own report, the investigation was opened as a result of incidents where “a Tesla vehicle experienced a crash after entering an area of reduced roadway visibility conditions with FSD -Beta or FSD -Supervised (collectively, FSD) engaged.” The reduced visibility, the NHTSA continued, resulted from “sun glare, fog, or airborne dust.”
One of the four crashes resulted in the death of a pedestrian, the agency reported, while another injured one of the participants.
Given that Tesla’s self-driving feature is an important part of the forthcoming Cybercab, which the automaker announced earlier this month, this latest investigation represents a metaphorical bump in the road for Tesla. Without self-driving features, Tesla’s existing lineup of vehicles can still be driven just fine. The Cybercab’s lack of a steering wheel or pedals, at least in the version shown at the launch event, would prevent that.
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Tesla has scaled back its ambitions beforeAs Gitlin points out at Ars Technica, the investigation could lead to a recall of the affected vehicles. That’s not a small number: according to the NHTSA’s own estimates, the issue could affect over 2.4 million Teslas manufactured between 2016 and 2024. Between a wide-ranging recall and the implications for the Cybercab, this investigation could have significant implications for Tesla.
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