Tesla Faces Safety Probe Anew Following “Phantom Breaking” Complaints
It seems the electric vehicle manufacturer can’t catch a break. Another safety investigation looms over Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) after the US Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received numerous complaints of the cars suddenly stopping.
According to the report by the US regulator’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), it has received 354 complaints “alleging unexpected brake activation in 2021-2022 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.”
“Received over the past nine months, the reports have often been
characterized as “phantom braking” by consumers,” said the report. “Tesla describes the subject vehicles as equipped with a suite of advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features referred to as Autopilot which Tesla states will allow the vehicle to brake and steer automatically within its lanes.”
The complaints report that when using ADAS features, the Tesla vehicles “unexpectedly applies its brakes.” The ODI is opening a preliminary evaluation of the electric car models mentioned, which is estimated to cover around 416,000 vehicles.
This is the fourth formal investigation into the safety of Tesla’s models in the past three years. The NHTSA is still in the middle of investigating the car manufacturer’s driver assistance program.
US senators Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey also urged the Federal Trade Commission to launch a probe on Tesla for “potentially deceptive and unfair practices” regarding the advertising of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) and Autopilot technology.
This is also not the first time that the automaker faced complaints about “phantom breaking”. Back in October 2021, Tesla recalled around 12,000 vehicles for a similar sudden deceleration issue.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also facing clashes with US government agencies, most recently with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk claims the agency is making a calculated effort to “chill” his right to free speech.
The company’s chief officer is also in hot waters on a personal level after comparing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s declaration of the Emergencies Act to former German dictator Adolf Hitler in a now-deleted meme.
While it’s not a direct answer to the new safety investigation on Tesla, Musk replied to a tweet by Mad Money host Jim Cramer who asked how the former “[perseveres] in the face of this level of negativity,” referring to criticisms on the firm’s electric vehicles.
The investigation could lead to another batch of recalls following the previous 15 recalls supervised by NHTSA since January 2021. These include recalls due to touchscreen display failures, trunk latch and camera defects, and seatbelt chime and rolling stop feature failures.
Tesla last traded at US$856.98 on Nasdaq.
Information for this briefing was found via CBS News. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
