Federal safety investigators have sent Tesla a detailed list of questions about upcoming Robotaxi services as part of their investigation into how the company’s “fully autonomous driving (supervisor)” software works under low visibility conditions.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Defect Investigation Office “hopes for additional information on fully automated driving (supervisory) (“FSD”) to understand how Tesla evaluates its vehicles and understands how to drive automated technology for use on public roads.
Tesla has not been quiet about plans to launch a paid ride-on Robotaxis service in Austin, Texas this June. However, Tesla’s April 23rd X post appears to have attracted the attention of federal regulators.
This post is quoted in the letter. “FSD’s supervised riding service is live for early employees in the Austin & San Francisco Bay Area. We completed 1.5K trips and over 15K miles of driving.
The NHTSA began investigating Tesla’s “Fully Autonomous Driving (Counter)” software in October after four visual situation crashes were reported. Tesla’s FSD software is an advanced driver assistance system that requires the driver to keep his hands on the wheels, even when handling some of the driving operations, such as braking and steering, in certain environments and conditions.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says Robotaxis will use an unreleased, “unsurveillanced” version of its fully automated driving software.
In a May letter, the agency sent Tesla a series of questions aimed at determining whether the planned Robotaxis automated driving system is the same or similar to the supervised FSD. The agency asked for details on the fleet size, the vehicle model used in the Robotaxi service, how Tesla determines whether the Robotaxi system is safe, and how to plan whether the automated drive system is related to FSD monitored products.
Investigators also asked Tesla to explain that “we intend to ensure the safety of Robotaki in conditions of reduced road visibility, such as sun glare, fog, air dust, rain and snow.”