NEW YORK (AP) – Federal security regulators have asked the Elon Musk car company to explain how its driverless taxis will avoid causing accidents when they take the road to Texas next month before a national launch of “Robotaxi” which is essential to maintain its action course at altitude.
Tesla has been invited to provide information on how its taxis will safely operate in Austin, Texas, when there is fog, dazzling the sun, rain and other low visibility conditions that have been linked to accidents involving the company’s driver’s assistance software. These accidents, including the one who killed a pedestrian, sparked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launch an investigation In October of 2.4 million Musk vehicles.
The billionaire reassured investors during a profile call last month that the Robotaxi service would be launched in Austin as expected and lead to millions of robotaxis And other autonomous autonomous teslas operating throughout the country by the end of the year.
“We expect a green light after Tesla’s response, but the big goal is to focus on more widespread launches in the United States after the start of the Austin pilot,” said Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities stock market analyst. “It’s a pivotal moment for Musk.”
During the same call, Musk said he was coming back from his work as a Tsar to reduce the cost of government Donald Trump. Tesla’s shares have increased by 45% since then, but they are still down by around 17% over a year.
Regulators regularly request security information from car manufacturers and the NHTSA order itself is not alarming, although this can lead to delays in the launch of Austin if Tesla’s responses to the new pages letter made public by the agency on Monday are not satisfactory. The agency gave Tesla until June 19 to provide an answer.
Federal regulators have limited powers on new Tesla taxis which work without steering wheel or brake pedals, because there is no national regulation on autonomous technology. A discount is that the vehicles themselves must still pass long-standing security checks.
“The NHTSA can force a reminder, either” voluntarily “, by Tesla, or by commanding a reminder,” said Ann Carlson, the Former interim NHTSA chief. “However, the agency cannot require a kind of pre-application before Tesla can launch.”
In the letter, the regulators asked Tesla several questions in addition to those concerning the low visibility conditions. They asked for the number and models of taxis, when and where taxis will be deployed in the coming months, how they will be monitored remotely by Tesla in real time, the cameras and other sensors used to guide vehicles, the specific measures used to judge if they sail in the streets in a safe way, and the names of the people in Tesla doing these evaluations.
During his investor call conference last month, Musk spoke of an effortless future in a few months.
“Can you sleep in our cars and wake up to your destination?” The billionaire asked, then replied: “I am convinced that this will be available in many cities in the United States by the end of this year.”
If such a future will not come early, society may find it difficult to justify the still high price of action.
Tesla declared a 71% drop in profits in the first quarter because it Faced with angry demonstrations Regarding the musk embrace of extreme right -wing politicians in Europe and its role in reducing government jobs that have divided the country.
