Investigation now covers 3.2 million vehicles as regulators examine crashes tied to reduced camera performance.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has escalated its investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system and is looking more closely at how the technology performs in poor visibility conditions.
The move signals an increased likelihood NHTSA will raise regulatory action.The agency said its probe now extends to approximately 3.2 million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD, moving from a preliminary evaluation launched in October 2024 into a more advanced engineering analysis. That step is typically occurs before a recall is pursued.At the center of the investigation are concerns that Tesla’s camera-based system may not adequately detect or respond to its environment given visibility issues caused by things such as glare, dust, or airborne obstructions. According to NHTSA, the system may also fail to properly warn drivers when camera performance is compromised.The agency said it has identified nine crashes potentially linked to the issue, including one fatality and two involving injuries. It is also reviewing six additional crashes that may be related. In several cases, NHTSA said the system “lost track of or never detected a lead vehicle in its path.”The probe is also reexamining Tesla’s shift away from radar and toward a camera-only system known as Tesla Vision, a move which took place in mid-2021. While Tesla did implement a degradation-detection system that was intended to monitor sensor performance, NHTSA is now inquiring into whether that system functions effectively under real-world conditions.The investigation adds to growing regulatory pressure on Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance, or ADA, systems, including Autopilot and FSD, which are central to the company’s long-term strategy. FSD is a foundational piece of Tesla’s robotaxi plans.NHTSA said it will evaluate whether software updates to Tesla’s detection system improve performance. The agency is also examining whether earlier versions of the system contributed to the crashes under review.
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