The massive maker of electric vehicles, Tesla, is currently being prompted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to submit information regarding its voluntary Autopilot software recall that occurred back in December by this July; failure to comply might result in a punishment of up to $135.8 million.
The recall's purpose was to improve Tesla's driver-engagement systems, which monitor whether users are safely using Autopilot features like lane keeping, traffic-aware cruise control, and auto steering.
According to a document on the NHTSA website, at least 20 Tesla vehicles were in collisions after the recall, during which the system was thought to have been activated.
The NHTSA has been asking the makers of electric vehicles for thorough crash data ever since the agency issued the Autopilot recall update. Video and data that are either stored in or sent from the company's vehicles are included in this data.
The agency's three-year examination concluded that safety flaws with Tesla Autopilot were a factor in at least 467 crashes and 14 fatalities between January 2018 and August 2023, leading to the recall remedy probe.
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NHTSA's Investigation Conclusions
The NHTSA concluded that the drivers involved in those collisions were not paying enough attention to the driving task and that the warnings Autopilot issued when Autosteer was activated were insufficient to guarantee that drivers continued to pay attention to the task at hand.
Tesla vehicles have torque sensors in the steering wheel to determine whether the driver maintains their hands on the wheel and in-cabin cameras to track the driver's gaze.
These technologies are sometimes referred to as driver-monitoring systems or driver-engagement systems. They ought to warn careless drivers to pay attention and always be prepared to brake or steer.
Additionally, NHTSA is requesting documentation regarding the methods used by Tesla's engineering teams to determine safety defects, conduct issue investigations, develop actions that consider human aspects both initially and later, and conduct testing.
Tesla's Continuous Layoffs
Tesla is still laying off workers, as more employees posted about their exits on LinkedIn during the company's fourth week of layoffs. The most recent round of layoffs impacted Tesla's engineering, services, and software areas.
The affected employees were notified of layoffs for the weekend and early week. According to sources, at least seven workers reportedly posted about their layoffs on Sunday.
Starting last month, 10% of Tesla's 140,000 global employees were to be laid off. The layoffs affected Daniel Ho, the director of the new cars program at Tesla, and Rebecca Tinucci, the head of EV charging, as well as their teams.
Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, stressed the need for frequent restructuring and listed strict steps to enhance operations in internal emails. Musk justified his desire to cut jobs by at least 20% by citing a decline in quarterly auto-deliveries.
Due to declining sales and heightened competition, particularly in the US and China, Tesla's profitability decreased by 55% annually.
Musk has been concentrating on Tesla's autonomous vehicle objectives despite these challenges, projecting the release of a fully autonomous robotaxi later this year.
At least six executives left Tesla in the previous month, suggesting a company leadership shift. Vice President of Public Policy and Business Development Rohan Patel and Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Electrical Engineering Drew Baglino both tendered their resignations.
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(Photo: Tech Times)
