Tesla Autopilot recall probed by safety regulator following new crashes

Tesla (TSLA) is facing another setback with its Autopilot software, a system that CEO Elon Musk is betting on to power his robotaxi future.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday it was opening an investigation following Tesla’s recall of virtually every vehicle equipped with the automaker’s Autopilot advanced driver assistance systems. The original recall, a software update issued back in December, covered over 2 million Tesla vehicles and was meant to address “driver misuse” of the system, meaning Tesla had to add features that would make sure drivers were paying attention while operating Autopilot.

Now NHTSA is saying Tesla’s remedial actions with the recall were insufficient. In its report, NHTSA wrote that its Office of Defect Investigations had “identified concerns due to post-remedy crash events,” meaning vehicles equipped with the updated Autopilot software had accidents that may have involved inattentive drivers. Also, NHTSA noted that Tesla disclosed that the recall fix “requires the owner to opt in and allows a driver to readily reverse it.”

NHTSA added it had concerns not only stemming from crash events but also from its own testing of “remedied vehicles."

NHTSA said that during its initial investigation, which began three years ago, it identified at least 13 Tesla crashes “involving one or more fatalities and many more involving serious injuries in which foreseeable driver misuse of the system played an apparent role."

Tesla has not issued any statements regarding this latest move by NHTSA.

Musk’s bet on 'robotaxis'

Tesla’s problems with its Autopilot driver assistance software and Full Self-Driving (FSD) autonomous software are an issue for a company betting on self-driving. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced a couple of weeks ago that a robotaxi reveal was coming on Aug. 8 and further reiterated that a Tesla robotaxi would be the future of the company and unlock a vast addressable market.

Issues with Autopilot, considered a Level 2 autonomous software, are not a good harbinger for achieving fully autonomous driving capability, which is categorized as Level 4 and Level 5 autonomy. Tesla’s robotaxi is rumored to have no steering wheel or pedals, making it full Level 5.

Even if Tesla solves the puzzle of fully autonomous driving, the solution may be years away.

“Tesla promised all their cars would be fully autonomous eight years ago, and even though they've changed their approach several times during that period, many believe they still remain years away from achieving full autonomy,” John Krafcik, former CEO of Google’s Waymo autonomous driving unit, said to Reuters.

Deutsche Bank noted in a research report issued this week that autonomous expert Alex Roy, formerly of Argo AI, warned Tesla needed to be operating and testing its autonomous software in at least five metropolitan test areas, something which it has not done. Given its current trajectory, Roy believes it will take at least three to five years before Tesla is testing its robotaxis in those limited test areas, let alone approved for consumer use.

Given the issues that Argo AI itself had, in which the Ford (F) and VW-backed (VWAGY) startup was shut down due to costs and limited progress, and the struggles that GM's (GM) Cruise autonomous unit is currently experiencing, Tesla’s safety issues with its limited Autopilot suggest there’s a long road ahead before Tesla’s robotaxis will be unleashed.

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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