Greater than 750 Tesla homeowners have complained to US protection regulators that automobiles working at the automakerâs partly automatic riding methods have stopped on roadways for no obvious reason why.
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Protection Management printed the quantity in an in depth data request letter to Tesla that used to be posted on Friday at the companyâs web site.
The 14-page letter dated 4 Might asks the automaker for all client and box stories it has gained about false braking, in addition to stories of crashes, accidents, deaths and assets harm claims. It additionally asks whether or not the corporateâs âcomplete self ridingâ and automated emergency braking methods had been energetic on the time of any incident.
The company started investigating phantom braking in Teslaâs Fashions 3 and Y closing February upon getting 354 lawsuits. The inquiry covers an estimated 416,000 automobiles from the 2021 and 2022 style years. In February, the company stated it had no stories of crashes or accidents.
The letter offers Tesla a closing date of 20 June to reply to the guidelines request however says the corporate can ask for an extension.
A message used to be left early on Friday searching for remark from Tesla.
In opening the investigation, the company stated it used to be taking a look into automobiles provided with automatic driver-assist options equivalent to adaptive cruise keep watch over and âautopilotâ, which permits them to routinely brake and steer inside of their lanes.
âComplainants file that the fast deceleration can happen with out caution, and regularly again and again throughout a unmarried power cycle,â the company stated.
Many homeowners wrote of their lawsuits that they feared a rear-end crash on a highway.
Within the letter, NHTSA asks for the preliminary velocity when the automobiles started to brake, the general velocity and the typical deceleration. It additionally asks if the automatic methods detected a goal impediment, and whether or not Tesla has video of the braking incidents.
The company is now searching for data on guaranty claims for phantom braking together with the homeownersâ names and what maintenance had been made. Additionally it is searching for data on Teslaâs sensors, any checking out or investigations into the braking issues, or if any changes had been made.
The letter makes a speciality of Teslaâs checking out of the automatic methods relating to detecting steel bridges, S-shaped curves, oncoming and pass visitors and other sizes of automobiles together with huge vehicles. The company additionally needs data on how cameras maintain reflections, shadows, glare and blockage because of snow or heavy rain.