The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is conducting a federal investigation into Elon Musk’s Tesla after discovering that the business was failing to record collisions as required by law.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation had “identified numerous incident reports” from Tesla about collisions that had “occurred several months or more before the dates of the reports” to the agency, according to documents made public on the agency’s website Thursday.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that the delayed crash reports were likely due to an issue with Tesla’s data collection system, which the company claims has now been resolved.
In the United States, automakers are required to disclose crashes involving partially or completely automated driving systems in their vehicles that happen on publicly accessible roadways within five days of the companies learning about the incident.
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Audit Query to Review Tesla’s Reporting Compliance
To determine if Tesla is fulfilling its reporting obligations, the agency will launch an audit query to investigate the causes of the delays, the scope of any issues, and the steps Tesla is taking to address them.
Along with determining whether Tesla failed to disclose any previous pertinent crashes, the NHTSA will also look at whether the company’s disclosures to the safety agency “include all of the required and available data.”
On Thursday, Tesla’s shares saw minimal movement.
In the United States, the business sells electric cars with either the regular Autopilot system or the more expensive Full Self-Driving Supervised option, or FSD. Both need a driver at the wheel who is always ready to brake or steer.
Safety Concerns Surrounding Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD
At least 59 people have died in crashes where Tesla Autopilot or FSD was a contributing factor, according to TeslaDeaths.com. This website tracks incidents involving Teslas using press stories, police logs, and federal data.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is attempting to convince investors that the business can lead the world in autonomous vehicles and that its self-driving systems are secure enough to run fleets of robotaxis on American public roads at the time of the latest NHTSA investigation.
In addition to operating another human car service in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, the business debuted and operated a Tesla Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June. Trips can be scheduled through the Tesla Robotaxi app.
Tesla has not yet launched autonomous ride-hailing services that would put it on a level playing field with Waymo, which Alphabet owns, Baidu’s Apollo Go, and other rivals of autonomous vehicles.
Market Outlook and Investor Sentiment
Due in part to customer outrage over Musk’s divisive political language, his efforts to re-elect President Donald Trump, and his leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency to reduce federal expenditure and its personnel, the company is experiencing a fall in sales and profits.
Many stockholders and Wall Street experts, however, are still hopeful about Musk’s ambition.
In a note released on Wednesday, analysts at Goldman Sachs said, “We view Tesla’s launch of robotaxi operations as a positive step toward entering a major market, which we estimate could reach $7 billion in the U.S. by 2030, based on our recent report on autonomous vehicles.”
According to the research note, there will be a “debate on the pace of robotaxi growth going forward” because Musk and Tesla have not provided investors with an indication of what they anticipate in terms of Robotaxi-related income or the technical performance of the vehicles in their rideshare fleet.
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