WASHINGTON — Tesla Inc. has submitted a partial response to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s information request issued as part of the agency’s formal safety probe into the automaker’s Autopilot driver-assistance system.
NHTSA said in an Oct. 22 memo released Monday that Tesla’s response “has been received and is being reviewed. The company has requested confidential business information treatment for the entirety of the information request.”
On Aug. 31, NHTSA sent Tesla an 11-page letter with questions it was required to answer by Oct. 22 as part of its investigation.
Earlier this month, NHTSA asked Tesla why it had not issued a recall to address software updates made to Autopilot to improve the vehicles’ ability to detect emergency vehicles.
The agency’s probe into 765,000 U.S. vehicles came after a series of crashes involving Tesla models and emergency vehicles.
To date, NHTSA has identified 12 crashes that involved Tesla vehicles using the advanced driver-assistance systems and emergency vehicles. NHTSA said most of the incidents took place after dark.
In a separate letter, NHTSA asked Tesla about its “Autosteer on City Streets” which the company also refers to as “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) released in October 2020, and raised concerns about limits on disclosure by drivers of safety issues.
“Despite Tesla’s characterization of FSD as ‘beta,’ it is capable of and is being used on public roads,” NHTSA said.
Tesla on Sunday rolled back the latest version of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta software, less than a day after its release, after users complained of false collision warnings and other issues.
Tesla must respond by Nov. 1 to NHTSA’s most recent information requests.
Tesla did not immediately comment on Monday.
NTSB letter
In another Tesla safety matter, the National Transportation Safety Board scolded Tesla for failing to respond to recommendations issued four years ago related to its controversial Autopilot driver-assist feature.
The NTSB on Monday released a letter to the EV company that said it is “deeply concerned” at the company’s failure to respond to the safety recommendations.
The NTSB — which has no regulatory authority and relies instead on its powers of persuasion on government and industry — had called on Tesla and other manufacturers in 2017 to make improvements in the increasingly popular automation systems.
“If you are serious about putting safety front and center in Tesla vehicle design, I invite you to complete action on the safety recommendations we issued to you four years ago,” NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said in the letter.
Musk has publicly clashed with regulators, from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to public health officials in Alameda County, Calif., where Teslas are built.
In 2018, the NTSB revoked Tesla’s privileges to participate in an investigation for releasing information on the probe without permission. Musk hung up on then-NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt during a call to discuss the action, Sumwalt later said.
Bloomberg contributed to this report.