The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has moved its investigation of Tesla's Full Self-Driving system to the engineering analysis stage. This brings closer a potential recall that could affect approximately 3.2 million vehicles.
The investigation began in October 2024. The regulator is examining how the system responds to reduced visibility conditions on the road. Particular attention is paid to the operation of cameras and the timeliness of warnings to the driver.
According to the agency, after switching to a radar-free system in 2021, Tesla implemented a sensor degradation monitoring mechanism. In June 2024, the company began updating it after a fatal accident that occurred in November 2023.
Earlier, motoram.ru reported on accidents involving Tesla Model X and Tesla Cybertruck due to incorrect operation of the FSD system.
The preliminary investigation found that in three out of nine cases, the system may have responded incorrectly to poor visibility. The cameras did not recognize road conditions, and warnings appeared too late.
Additional analysis revealed new incidents where the system failed to detect vehicles ahead. At the same time, Tesla admitted that limitations in data collection may lead to incomplete accounting of accidents.
The review covers Model S and X vehicles from 2016–2026, Model 3 from 2017, Model Y from 2020, and Cybertruck from 2023, equipped with the FSD system.