The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has intensified its investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, advancing it to the critical “engineering analysis” phase. This step focuses on evaluating the system’s safety performance in challenging weather and low-visibility scenarios. The probe encompasses approximately 3.2 million Tesla vehicles currently on the road.

Regulators have expressed concerns that the FSD system may not reliably detect road conditions or issue timely warnings during periods of poor visibility. This deficiency has been linked to multiple collision incidents, including at least one fatality. The investigation zeroes in on Tesla’s vision-based autonomous driving approach, particularly highlighting flaws in its “downgrade detection system,” which has reportedly failed to provide adequate alerts in hazardous situations.

The progression of this investigation raises the possibility of a large-scale recall, introducing significant uncertainty for Tesla’s strategic shift toward autonomous driving and robotics technologies.