The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is expediting an investigation into Tesla's Autopilot which began in 2021. Autopilot has been at the center of widespread controversy in recent years over its ability to safeguard users when activated. Tesla equips its vehicles with Basic Autopilot and invites customers to consider upgrading to either Enhanced Autopilot which costs $6,000 or Full Self-Driving which costs $15,000. Autopilot is an advanced driving assistant that features certain functions meant to optimize the driving experience. It's currently at Level 2 of vehicle autonomy, meaning that users need to constantly monitor it for safety reasons.
According to a Reuters report, NHTSA's acting head Ann Carlson confirmed that the regulatory agency is speeding up its probe into Tesla's Autopilot. Carlson didn't state whether a resolution can be expected soon, but did reveal that the NHTSA is committing several resources towards the inquiry. “The resources require a lot of technical expertise, actually some legal novelty, and so we're moving as quickly as we can, but we also want to be careful and make sure we have all the information we need,” Carlson said. Last June, the NHTSA told media outlets that it had elevated its Autopilot inquisition to an engineering analysis. Typically, that's the final stage and within a year, the agency should decide whether to initiate a vehicle recall or close the investigation.
Concern Over Removal Of Steering Wheel Alerts
The NHTSA also said that it had contacted Tesla over a tweet from its CEO Elon Musk, who suggested that Tesla may discard the hands-on-wheels alert for users with over 10,000 miles on FSD Beta. The NHTSA wants Tesla to clarify the scope of Musk's tweet, which indicates that a software update may be rolled out soon to disable the function. Meanwhile, the NHTSA has stated that its efforts to define the meaning of what Musk said have formed part of the Autopilot investigation.
If Musk is right about Tesla deactivating the steering wheel nag, it poses a serious safety concern. FSD remains in the beta stage despite its widespread availability to drivers in North America. This means that the system needs all the safeguards that it can get. For Tesla to gain approval for Level 3 driving autonomy, it will have to fine-tune its current offerings. However, the road to that point may take longer than the automaker thinks.
Based on the reports released by the NHTSA, 273 Autopilot-equipped Tesla EVs were involved in crashes in the span of one year. Aside from verifying their technical abilities, there have been issues with the names of Tesla's assisted driving and safety systems. Last year, the California Department of Motor Vehicles accused the automaker of false advertising. The California DMV claims that Tesla markets its Autopilot and FSD technologies as having autonomous capabilities, with the names also suggesting self-driving abilities.
Source: Reuters, Elon Musk/Twitter