By Friday's close, the stock closed down 1.11% to $168.29
The Zhitong Finance App learned that the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Friday (April 26) that it has launched a new investigation into whether Tesla (TSLA.US)'s previous functional upgrade recall of its vehicle's autonomous driving assistance system (Autopilot) complies with safety standards.
The reason for this new investigation is that a collision occurred after the vehicle was recalled due to a software update, and concerns were raised about the preliminary test results of the software function upgrade of the recalled vehicle.
The agency notes that they have just completed a nearly three-year investigation into Tesla's Autopilot system, and the findings revealed a “critical security flaw.” This flaw is due to the low level of driver participation in the system, which is insufficient to support the system's ability to operate autonomously, which may increase driving safety risks.
NHTSA also referred to Tesla's statement, which stated that “some solutions require drivers to actively opt in and allow drivers to withdraw their participation at any time.”
The agency said that although Tesla has released software updates aimed at improving security, these updates “are not included in the recall process, nor are flaws that may cause unreasonable security risks clearly addressed by other means.”
Tesla announced in December last year that it will carry out the largest recall in its history, involving 2.03 million cars in the US, including almost all Tesla vehicles driving on US roads. The purpose is to more effectively ensure that drivers can keep their attention when using advanced autonomous driving assistance systems.
The recall plan covers Model Y, X, S, 3 and Cybertruck models equipped with autonomous driving systems manufactured in the US from 2012 to 2024.
Tesla also mentioned in December of last year that Autopilot's software control system “may not be sufficient to stop driver abuse, which may increase the risk of car accidents.”
NHTSA revealed that during the Autopilot safety investigation, which was first launched in August 2021, it was discovered that at least 13 accidents involving Tesla vehicles resulted in the death of one or more people, and many others causing serious injuries.
Although Tesla disagreed with NHTSA's analysis, the company said it will deploy an OTA (Over-the-Air) software update to add additional control and alarm measures to existing controls and alarms to further encourage drivers to maintain their responsibility for continuous driving when enabling autonomous driving functions.
By Friday's close, the stock closed down 1.11% to $168.29.