Elon Musk's electric vehicle company, Tesla, faces multiple federal inquiries and potential policy changes under the Trump administration. Investigations focus on safety concerns surrounding Tesla's partially automated vehicles, potential overstatements of self-driving capabilities, and mandatory crash data reporting. Safety advocates warn of dire consequences if these investigations are weakened, while analysts predict a less stringent regulatory environment for Tesla under the new administration.
Musk's electric vehicle company faces a number of federal inquiries and could be impacted by changes in policy.On the potential chopping block: crash investigations into Tesla ’s partially automated vehicles; a Justice Department criminal probe examining whether Musk and Tesla have overstated their cars’ self-driving capabilities; and a government mandate to report crash data on vehicles using technology like Tesla ’s Autopilot.
“Trump’s election, and the bromance between Trump and Musk, will essentially lead to the defanging of a regulatory environment that’s been stifling Tesla,” said Daniel Ives, a veteran Wall Street technology and automobile industry analyst.Among Musk’s businesses, the federal government’s power over Tesla to investigate, order recalls, and mandate crash data reporting is perhaps the most wide-ranging.
Those donations and his efforts during the campaign — including the transformation of his social media platform X into a firehose of pro-Trump commentary — have been rewarded by Trump, who has tapped the entrepreneur to oversee efforts to slash government regulations and spending. In the weeks before Trump took office on Jan. 20, the president-elect’s transition team recommended changes that would benefit the billionaire and his car company, including scrapping the federal order requiring carmakers to report crash data involving self-driving and partially automated technology.
President Trump announced Sunday night on his Truth Social site that the government would stop minting the one-cent coin to cut costs. Though nearly 30 states have rules that specifically govern self-driving cars, the federal government has yet to craft such regulations. road, when they were struck by an out-of-control Tesla driving on Autopilot — a system that allows Tesla cars to operate without driver input. The car had blown through a stop sign, a flashing light and five yellow warning signs, according to dashcam video and a police report.
Elon Musk spoke to crowds at the Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena. President Donald Trump is set to attend the inaugural rally later Monday.The federal agency that has the most power over Tesla — and the entire automobile industry — is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is part of the Department of Transportation.
—The Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department are separately investigating whether Musk and Tesla overstated the autonomous capabilities of their vehicles, creating dangerous situations in which drivers may over rely on the car’s technology. Experts said most, if not all, of those investigations could be shut down, especially at the Justice Department where Trump has long shown a willingness to meddle in the department’s affairs. The Trump administration has already ordered the firing of dozens of prosecutors who handled the criminal cases from the
“NHTSA has been a thorn in Musk’s side for over the last decade, and he’s grappled with almost every three-letter agency in the Beltway,” said Ives, the Wall Street analyst who covers the technology sector and automobile industry. “That’s all created what looks to be a really big soap opera in 2025.”
As with most car companies, Tesla’s recalls have so far been voluntary. The threat of public hearings about a defect that precedes a NHTSA-ordered recall has generally prompted car companies to act on their own. An investigation of Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system started in October after Tesla reported four crashes to NHTSA in which the vehicles had trouble navigating through sun glare, fog and airborne dust. In one of the accidents, an Arizona woman was killed after stopping on a freeway to help someone involved in another crash.
NHTSA is also conducting a probe into whether a 2023 recall of Autopilot, the most basic of Tesla’s partially automated driver assistance systems, was effective. Musk has said that human drivers rely on their eyesight, so autonomous cars should be able to also get by with just cameras. He has called technology that relies on radar and light detection to discern objects a “fool’s errand.”
Technology Politics TESLA ELON MUSK FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS AUTOMATION SAFETY REGULATIONS
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