Tesla’s Autopilot system is under the regulatory microscope

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has concluded an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assistance system, which was prompted by reports of the company’s cars crashing into parked vehicles while operating under the software.

However, despite the investigation’s conclusion, the lady-with-impressive-size isn’t quite singing. The NHTSA on Friday opened up a new investigation to assess whether the recall fix Tesla has already implemented for over two million cars actually did enough to address the agency’s safety concerns.

This new investigation is effectively an expansion of the old one. The first investigation determined that an imbalance between driver expectations and the operating capabilities of Autopilot resulted in a “critical safety gap” that led to “foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes.”

• Effectively – the NHTSA isn’t too happy with Tesla’s branding, similar to Prince’s manager during the artist’s name-changing phase.
• While rival car manufacturers utilize words like “driver assist” in the names of their Level 2 autonomous systems, the agency says Tesla’s Autopilot branding implies full-self driving capabilities (Level 4 or 5) and can mislead consumers.

Tesla issued an over-the-air recall in December aimed at closing these holes in its systems. But more Autopilot crashes have occurred since, prompting the new NHTSA investigation.

Autonomous driving is pivotal to the future of Tesla. CEO Elon Musk has for years been touting the idea that Teslas will be able to act as autonomous robotaxis. This month, he said the company’s robotaxi would be revealed in August.