- tesla rolled out smart summon, which lets a user call an unoccupied tesla vehicle to move itself across a parking lot, and nhtsa is looking into the safety of such a feature.
- the government safety agency also said it is looking into tesla's recent updates to the model s and model x's battery management system.
- a change to the cars' battery system has been alleged to reduce range and to have been a fix to a fire hazard that was made without prior notification to nhtsa.
update 10/4/19, 6:30 p.m.: a nhtsa spokesperson told c/d that the agency "does not discuss open investigations" but referred us to its vehicle complaint page, where owners can fill out a questionnaire to report problems, and said the agency encourages drivers to report issues with their vehicles.
two separate issues with tesla electric vehicles are now garnering the attention of the national highway traffic safety administration (nhtsa). first is the automaker's summon feature, which some users claim is not working as safely as it should. second are reports that a recent over-the-air software update to the model s and model x's battery management system may have been made to fix a fire hazard without notifying nhtsa so that it could issue a recall. a user complaint also claims the battery system fix has decreased the ev's driving range.
nhtsa said this week that it is investigating around 2000 model s and model x evs from the 2012 to 2019 model years. a petitioner alleged that over-the-air updates to the battery management system, which started in may, "were made in response to a potential defect that could result in a non-crash vehicle fire" and complained that nhtsa should have been notified and carried out a recall. the petitioner also claimed the fix has reduced the driving range of the affected vehicles. the agency has not yet made any determination on the validity of the claims other than to agree that an investigation is warranted.
nhtsa has also commented on the newly rolled out summon feature, which is a technology that slowly moves a tesla—without a driver in the car—through places like private parking lots. there are two versions of the summoning software. first is "vanilla" summon, which moves the car in and out of a tight space while the driver uses the mobile app or the key fob. second is smart summon, which is meant to allow the car to "navigate more complex environments and parking spaces, maneuvering around objects as necessary to come find you in a parking lot."
tesla features the smart summon software in version 10.0 of its vehicle software, issued at the end of september, saying that tesla drivers "who have had early access to smart summon have told us that it adds both convenience to their trips and provides them with a unique moment of delight when their car picks them up to begin their journey." the automaker added a warning: "those using smart summon must remain responsible for the car and monitor it and its surroundings at all times."
recently, a number of tesla drivers have been posting videos of their driverless evs using summon, some of which are not working quite as expected. in some cases, the cars are shown almost crashing into other vehicles, stopping in the lane and blocking traffic, driving onto lawns, and scraping wheels on curbs. nhtsa, quoted by reuters, said that it "is aware of reports related to tesla's summon feature. we are in ongoing contact with the company and we continue to gather information. safety is nhtsa's top priority and the agency will not hesitate to act if it finds evidence of a safety-related defect."
tesla has not responded to car and driver's requests for comment.