Tesla faces a new regulatory hurdle after the Department of Transportation announced an investigation Friday into the electric vehicle firm’s Full Self-Driving system, another speed bump as the company positions its future as autonomous driving.
Tesla's Full-Self Driving is under a federal probe.
The probe covers the estimated 2.4 million Tesla cars on American roads, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a subdivision of the Transportation Department.
The investigation looks into four separate reports on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving program’s involvement in crashes, including one incident in which a pedestrian was fatally struck amid low visibility conditions.
Federal regulators are looking into the system’s ability “to detect and respond appropriately” to low visibility conditions and “any updates or modifications” from Tesla to improve performance during such instances.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla stock dipped 0.5% in premarket trading, moving against a 0.5% gain for futures tied to the tech-concentrated Nasdaq Composite index.
Tesla describes its Full-Self Driving as a driving system requiring “minimal driver intervention” and lists low visibility as the first factor which may negatively impact the program’s functionality. Unlike its competitors like Waymo, Tesla’s approach to autonomous driving is camera-focused and does not include LiDAR sensors, which are designed explicitly to address low visibility situations in which cameras may not be fully effective. Tesla notes its Full Self Driving program still requires a driver with their hands on the wheel and the “currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous,” though its CEO Elon Musk said last week he envisions a scenario soon where Tesla owners can “fall asleep and wake up at your destination.” Last Thursday, Tesla hosted a “robotaxi” event in which it showcased its upcoming driverless cabs, and Musk has been clear autonomous driving is the future of Tesla, declaring on an April conference call: “If somebody doesn't believe Tesla's going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company.” The NHTSA has launched several investigations into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving and sister Autopilot programs in recent years, and said earlier this year it found 211 instances of crashes while Tesla vehicles were operating the semi-autonomous programs.