- The federal government is investigating whether Tesla’s 2023 Autopilot recall worked.
- In December, Tesla recalled 2 million Autopilot-equipped vehicles with a software update.
- Another report on problems before the recall found that Autopilot was linked to hundreds of crashes.
Tesla recalled more than 2 million vehicles last year following accidents involving its Autopilot program.
But did the reminder work? The crashes continue to happen, federal authorities say, and they are now investigating.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced Friday the opening of a new investigation into the “accidents.”
A supplemental report was also released by the regulator on Friday, offering more details on the issues investigated ahead of the recall. In the report, NHTSA said it investigated 956 Tesla crashes between January 2018 and August 2023 in which Autopilot was involved – 29 of which resulted in fatalities.
Tesla recalled vehicles last year to fix Autopilot with an over-the-air software update after regulators said the driver-assist technology didn’t do enough to stop driver abuse .
As part of its new investigation, NHTSA will use tests on recalled vehicles and examine why Tesla’s fix prompted owners to opt-in, making it something that could be “easily reversed.”
Tesla also sent subsequent updates to Autopilot that were not part of the recall, NHTSA said.
“This investigation will examine why these updates were not part of the recall,” the agency wrote.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The electric vehicle brand has been facing declining sales and said it had exhausted its cash in its latest earnings report. Still, the stock soared after CEO Elon Musk made big promises about two new products: more affordable cars and the company’s foray into self-driving robo-taxis.
It’s unclear how regulators will respond to Tesla’s fleet of vehicles when – or if – they arrive.
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