Tesla (TSLA.US) was hit hard after the Robotaxi press conference: NHTSA launched an investigation into the FSD accident

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Tesla (TSLA.US), the world's top electric vehicle manufacturer, will face an investigation initiated by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Earlier, an electric vehicle manufacturer equipped with a fully automated driving system (FSD) hit a pedestrian, causing the pedestrian to pass away unexpectedly.

According to information, the survey covered approximately 2.41 million Tesla cars, including Model S and X from 2016-2024, Model 3 from 2017-2024, Model Y from 2020-2024, and models equipped with FSD in 2023.

The US automotive safety regulator's Office of Defect Investigation (ODI) said they have discovered four traffic accident reports involving accidents that occurred in Tesla (Tesla) vehicles after the “fully automated driving” (FSD) function was enabled. Among these accidents, Tesla cars failed to respond effectively to the environment when road visibility was reduced, leading to collisions. Among them, a Tesla brand car collided violently due to FSD starting after entering an area where road visibility was reduced.

In one of these accidents, a fully automated driving (FSD) enabled Tesla vehicle hit a pedestrian, causing the pedestrian to die.

According to information, ODI has begun a preliminary evaluation of the company's FSD and will evaluate the technology's ability to detect and respond appropriately when road visibility is reduced, any updates or modifications to Tesla's FSD system. These updates or modifications may affect FSD's performance when road visibility is reduced, and other issues.

Under the influence of this unfavorable news, the electric car maker's stock price fell 0.86% in the US premarket, erasing earlier pre-market gains.

Although Tesla has deployed FSD functionality in some vehicles, the system is still considered an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) in the US rather than fully autonomous driving technology. US traffic regulators — the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) are still rigorously evaluating and investigating FSD.

In the US, Tesla's FSD is currently in beta. Some users can participate in Tesla's “FSD Beta Program”, which allows limited users to use the FSD function during actual driving, but drivers need to maintain control and attention to the vehicle at all times. US regulators require drivers to always be prepared to take over control of these Tesla vehicles when using FSD, which means that the system is currently not considered “fully autonomous.”

Therefore, if the Tesla FSD system is linked to a serious traffic accident, it will undoubtedly be a major obstacle to Tesla's autonomous driving ambitions and the full introduction of Robotaxi to the market in the future. The Tesla FSD system, which is based on the “fully driverless version”, is the core technology of Robotaxi. However, at present, all technology relating to “completely unmanned driving that frees human hands” has yet to be officially approved by US regulators.

Determined as a “major traffic accident,” it is likely to trigger a large number of legal lawsuits. These lawsuits may further affect the development of FSD and the promotion of RoboTaxi's marketization. Tesla may need to spend significant time and resources dealing with litigation issues, which could slow technology iterations and the introduction of new features.

According to reports, Tesla's stock price has dropped 7.5% since the Robotaxi driverless self-driving taxi was launched last week. Judging from Tesla's recent stock price trend, Musk's long-hyped Robotaxi failed to be favored by global capital, causing Tesla's stock price to continue to fall after the Robotaxi press conference. Wall Street investment agency Bernstein (Bernstein) said that Robotaxi is biased towards grand narratives, but it seems irrelevant to Tesla's weak performance and support expensive valuations at this stage.