US expands probe of Tesla Autopilot crashes in step toward possible recall

Enlarge / Tesla Model X at Brussels Expo on January 10, 2018 in Belgium. (credit: Getty Images | Sjoerd van der Wal)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has upgraded an investigation into Tesla's Autopilot system in a move that could lead to a recall.

The NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened the probe of Tesla Autopilot in August 2021 due to "eleven crashes in which Tesla models of various configurations have encountered first responder scenes and subsequently struck one or more vehicles involved with those scenes." Five other crashes have since been added to the analysis, which covers 830,000 Tesla Model Y, Model X, Model S, and Model 3 cars released from 2014 to 2022. The crashes being investigated resulted in 15 injuries and one death, the NHTSA said.

An NHTSA notice published Thursday said the investigation has been "upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA) to extend the existing crash analysis, evaluate additional data sets, perform vehicle evaluations, and to explore the degree to which Autopilot and associated Tesla systems may exacerbate human factors or behavioral safety risks by undermining the effectiveness of the driver's supervision. In doing so, NHTSA plans to continue its assessment of vehicle control authority, driver engagement technologies, and related human factors considerations."