However, the NHTSA also found that “Tesla’s weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities.” In other words, the software didn’t prioritize driver attentiveness. Riders using Autopilot or the company’s Full Self-Driving technology “were not sufficiently engaged,” because Tesla “did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task."

The organization investigated nearly 1,000 crashes from January of 2018 until August of 2023, accounting for 29 total deaths. The NHTSA found that there was “insufficient data to make an assessment” for around half (489) of these crashes. In some incidents, the other party was at fault or the Tesla drivers weren’t using the Autopilot system.

The most serious were 211 crashes in which “the frontal plane of the Tesla struck a vehicle or obstacle in its path” and these were often linked to Autopilot or FSD. These incidents led to 14 deaths and 49 serious injuries. The agency found that drivers had enough time to react, but didn’t, in 78 of these incidents. These drivers failed to brake or steer to avoid the hazard, despite having at least five seconds to make a move.

That’s where complaints against the software come into play. The NHTSA says that drivers would simply become too complacent, assuming that the system would handle any hazards. When it came time to react, it was too late. “Crashes with no or late evasive action attempted by the driver were found across all Tesla hardware versions and crash circumstances,” the organization wrote. The imbalance between driver expectation and the operating capabilities of Autopilot resulted in a “critical safety gap” that led to “foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes.”

The NHTSA also took umbrage with the branding of Autopilot, calling it misleading and suggesting that it lets drivers assume the software has total control. To that end, rival companies tend to use branding with words like “driver assist.” Autopilot indicates, well, an autonomous pilot. California’s attorney general and the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles are also investigating Tesla for misleading branding and marketing.

Tesla, on the other hand, says that it warns customers that they need to pay attention while using Autopilot and FSD, according to The Verge. The company says the software features regular indicators that remind drivers to keep their hands on the wheels and eyes on the road. The NHTSA and other safety groups have said that these warnings do not go far enough and were “insufficient to prevent misuse.” Despite these statements by safety groups, CEO Elon Musk recently promised that the company will continue to go “balls to the wall for autonomy.”

The findings could only represent a small fraction of the actual number of crashes and accidents related to Autopilot and FSD. The NHTSA indicated that “gaps in Tesla’s telematic data create uncertainty regarding the actual rate at which vehicles operating with Autopilot engaged are involved in crashes.” This means that Tesla only receives data from certain types of crashes, with the NHTSA claiming the company collects data on around 18 percent of crashes reported to police.

With all of this mind, the organization has opened up another probe into Tesla. This one looks into a recent OTA software fix issued in December after two million vehicles were recalled. The NHTSA will evaluate whether the Autopilot recall fix that Tesla implemented is effective enough.

The post NHTSA concludes Tesla Autopilot investigation after linking the system to 14 deaths appeared first on Best News.

Tesla confirmed shortly after the accident that Autopilot was switched on at the time of the crash, but it also insisted that Huang had time to react and had an unobstructed view of the divider. In a statement to the press, the company insisted that the driver was at fault and that the only way for the accident to have occurred was if Huang “was not paying attention to the road, despite the car providing multiple warnings to do so.” In the lawsuit, Huang’s lawyers pointed to Autopilot marketing materials from Tesla suggesting that its cars are safe enough to use on the road without drivers having to keep their hands on the wheel at all times. We took the image above from a video on Tesla’s Autopilot page, showing a driver with their hands on their lap.

The incident became big enough to attract the attention of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which conducted an investigation and found that Huang previously reported that the car steered away from the highway on prior trips. In fact, his family said that he used to complain about his car swerving towards the exact barrier he crashed into and had even reported it to the Tesla dealership, which couldn’t replicate the issue. The agency also concluded that Tesla’s collision warning system didn’t alert the driver and that its emergency braking system didn’t activate as it should have when the car started making its way toward the barrier.

That said, the NTSB discovered, as well, that Huang was running a mobile game on his phone at the time of the accident. It just couldn’t determine whether the phone was in his hands when the crash occurred. The Times said Tesla was preparing to show proof to the court that Huang was playing a game when he crashed, which his lawyers denied. Regardless of who’s truly at fault, a trial would’ve called renewed attention to the safety of Tesla’s driver assistance system. Settling puts an end to the case a few months before the company unveils its own robotaxi on August 8.

This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.

The post Tesla settles lawsuit over fatal Model X crash that killed an Apple engineer appeared first on Best News.

The Fauquier County Sheriff's Office provided more details on the accident, saying that the tractor trailer attempted to turn onto a highway from a truck stop when the Tesla struck the side and slid underneath the trailer. The Tesla driver was pronounced dead at the scene. As for the truck driver, authorities issued a summons for reckless driving.

The summons indicates that authorities blame the truck’s driver for the incident, but Tesla’s assistance program is supposed to account for mistakes stemming from other people on the road, thus the NHTSA investigation. To that end, the safety regulator has opened more than three dozen investigations into crashes involving Tesla vehicles and their advanced assistance algorithms. All told, the agency suspects the system has been involved in 23 deaths since 2016.

In 2021, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urged the NHTSA to issue stricter regulations for autonomous driving, stating in its letter that “Tesla is testing on public roads a highly automated AV technology but with limited oversight or reporting requirements.”

Tesla’s proprietary Autopilot technology is intended to steer, accelerate and brake within the vehicle’s lane, while an enhanced system assists with changing lanes on highways. Tesla says the system isn’t truly automated and requires active human supervision. The company hasn’t responded to a request for comment by Reuters regarding this latest accident and the newly-opened probe.

The post Tesla faces fresh safety probe following fatal accident appeared first on Best News.

The breach occurred on May 10th, when the German-language newspaper Handelsblatt said it received 100GB of data from "several informants" within Tesla. The "Tesla files" reportedly contained 23,000 internal files, containing 2,400 reports of self-acceleration issue and 1,500 cases of braking function problems. The latter included 139 complaints about unintentional emergency braking and 383 incidences of phantom stops from false collision warnings.

In the employee letter, Tesla provided more information about the incident, confirming the May 10 breach date and that Handelsblatt had obtained Tesla confidential information. "The investigation revealed that two former Tesla employees misappropriated the information in violation of Tesla’s IT security and data protection policies and shared it with the media outlet."

The data also included employee names and contact information including physical addresses, email addresses and mobile phone numbers. "The outlet has stated that it does not intend to publish the personal information, and in any event, is legally prohibited from using it inappropriately," Tesla stated. It added that several lawsuits resulted in the seizure of devices thought to carry the data, and that it had "obtained court orders that prohibit the former employees from further use, access, or dissemination of the data."

Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into Tesla's phantom braking issue following owner complaints. And in August 2022, it was reported that Tesla is facing a class-action lawsuit over the same problem.

The post Tesla says data breach that affected over 75,000 people was caused by 'insider wrongdoing' appeared first on Best News.

In action, the Driver Drowsiness Warning tool looks at both facial characteristics and driving behavior. An alert will appear on the touchscreen in the cards area, and an internal alarm will sound if the system records indications of tiredness. Drivers can choose to disable the feature by navigating to Controls and then Safety. Though, unless it's constantly beeping anytime the car moves from the direct center of a lane, there is little reason to do so.

In any case, the Driver Drowsiness Warning should automatically turn back on during a new drive. However, the feature only activates when the car goes over 40 miles per hour and if Autopilot is not switched on. Even if an alert occurs, the warning system will deactivate if the car drops below that minimum speed. Tesla includes the usual disclaimer in its announcement, cautioning drivers that it's their "responsibility" to stay alert and focused on the road ahead.

The post Tesla's new Driver Drowsiness Warning feature counts yawns and blinks appeared first on Best News.

At the same time, the vehicle’s electrical architecture is reportedly now being redesigned to accomodate an 800-volt standard, up from the 400V its existing Tesla lineup. A lot of luxury, performance and heavy duty EV models — from the Audi e-Tron to the GMC Hummer EV — use the 800V architecture, it’s what enables EVs with large battery capacities to charge at a higher rate (thereby reducing charging time) without reducing the vehicle’s wiring harness to slag.

“A lot of people excited about cyber truck,” Musk told reporters on Wednesday’s investor call. “I am too, i driven the car, it’s an amazing product. I want to emphasize that there will be enormous challenges in reaching volume production with the Cyber Truck and then in making it cash-flow positive.”

“This is normal for when you’ve got a product with a lot of new technology, or any brand new vehicle program — but especially one that is as different and advanced as the Cyber Truck,” he continued.”It is going to require work to reach planned production and be cash-flow positive, at a price that people can afford.”

For its existing model lines, Tesla’s production and deliveries are both down this quarter, about seven percent or roughly 30,000 units compared to Q2, but still significantly higher year over year — up around 100,000 units from 2022. The EV maker has slashed the prices on its vehicles repeatedly this year, first in March, then again in September (taking a full 20 percent off the MSRP at the time) and once more in early October.

The Model X, for example, started the year retailing at $120,990, but currently lists for $79,990. The models S (now $74,990), Y ($52,490, down 24 percent from January) and 3 ($38,990, down 17 percent) have all seen similar price drops. In all, Tesla reports its cost of goods sold per vehicle decreased to around $37,500 in Q3.

Musk had previously explained his willingness to drop prices and endure reduced margins if it translates to increased sales volume. “I think it does make sense to sacrifice margins in favor of making more vehicles,” he said in July.

“A sequential decline in volumes was caused by planned downtimes for factory upgrades, as discussed on the most recent earnings call. Our 2023 volume target of around 1.8 million vehicles remains unchanged,” Tesla wrote in an October press statement. The company delivered some 435,059 vehicles globally in Q3.

The company continues to increase its investments in AI development as well, having “more than doubled” the amount of processing power it dedicates to training its vehicular and Optimus robot AI systems, compared to Q2. The Optimus itself is reportedly receiving hardware upgrades and is being trained via AI, rather than “hard-coded” software.

Additionally, the company announced that all US and Canadian Hertz rentals will have access to the Tesla App, allowing them to use their phones as key fobs. Customers who already have a Tesla profile set up can apply those settings to their Hertz rental as well.

This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.

The post Tesla begins Cybertruck deliveries on November 30 appeared first on Best News.

"The remedy will incorporate additional controls and alerts to those already existing on affected vehicles to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged," the NHTSA stated in a document. It noted that while Autopilot (specifically its Autosteer component) does have several controls to ensure drivers pay attention, they're not always enough.

"In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse of the SAE Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature," the document states. That in turn may lead to "an increased risk of a collision."

Tesla was ordered to address the driver monitoring system. "The remedy will incorporate additional controls and alerts to those already existing on affected vehicles to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged, which includes keeping their hands on the steering wheel and paying attention to the roadway," it states. Those will include more prominent visual alerts, making it easier to turn Autosteer on and off, and eventual suspension from Autosteer if the driver fails to behave responsibly on an ongoing basis.

In a letter to the NHTSA, Tesla acknowledged the order and said it would issue the required fix. "Tesla will release an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed February 10, 2023." The order affects 2,031,220 vehicles, though models that went into production after December 7th will have already incorporated the update.

The NHTSA said last August that it was opening an investigation into Autopilot following 11 crashes with parked first responder vehicles since 2018 that resulted in 17 injuries and one death. In a letter to Tesla sent shortly afterward, the regulator requested detailed documentation on how the driver assistance system works. Specifically, it wanted to know how it ensures that human drivers will keep their eyes on the road while Autopilot is engaged and whether there are limits on where it can be used.

The post Tesla recalls over 2 million cars to fix Autopilot safety controls appeared first on Best News.