Tesla Autopilot scrutiny grows as US asks if recall is planned

NHTSA asked Tesla to hand over information about the criteria it used to allow more customers to access FSD, the company’s timeline for rolling out the system and a list of the number of respondents who have requested the software. — AFP

The US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration stepped up its scrutiny of Tesla Inc’s Autopilot, grilling the company over whether it should have issued a safety recall and questioning its rollout of new software customers are testing on city streets.

The regulator took issue with how Tesla deployed an update to its vehicles last month intended to improve their ability to detect emergency vehicles. NHTSA opened an investigation in August into whether Autopilot is defective following a series of crashes in which the system was engaged before Teslas collided with police cars and fire trucks.