Accordingly, on January 7, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it had opened an investigation into 2.6 million Tesla vehicles based on reports of accidents related to the company's feature that allows users to remotely control cars.
The new investigation comes after the US auto Safety Department opened an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles using Fully fought-Only driving software (FSD) in October 2024, which involved four accidents, including one fatal in 2023.
NHTSA said it is conducting a preliminary assessment of Tesla's actually Smart Summon (ASS) feature after receiving reports of 4 accidents involving Tesla vehicles. ASS is a feature that allows cars to park, pick up and drop off drivers and move to other locations through the use of control on the Tesla app on smartphones.
According to the report, Tesla cars have not detected landmarks or vehicles parked while operating under the ASS feature. The agency also reported that it has received reports of users having too little time to react to avoid collisions, causing the vehicle to stop moving despite good visibility while driving or not using the control feature via the phone application.
In fact, the ASS feature was launched in September last year and allows users to remotely control their vehicle to another location using a smartphone application. The previous version of this feature allowed users to move their vehicles forward or backwards, in or out of the parking lot.
NHTSA is currently conducting a preliminary assessment of this feature and will then decide whether to conduct a thorough assessment through technical analysis before it can make a recall request.
The agency also said that it will evaluate the maximum speed that the ASS feature achieves when using public vehicles and for requirements related to visibility. The investigation will also include issues related to remote control of cars via phone applications, the impacts of connection delays and system performance in unpredictable conditions.
Currently, Elon Musk's Tesla has not responded to the above information from NHTSA. Previously, in December 2023, Tesla recalled more than 2 million vehicles in the US to install new protective measures in the advanced Autopilot driver assistance system.
The NHTSA is still investigating whether that recall is enough to address concerns that drivers are not paying attention to. Closer monitoring of advanced driver assistance comes as Musk looks to shift to autonomous technology and robotics.
