Tesla is finally going to release everything we always wanted to know about Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD), but it’s because NHTSA is forcing the automaker to do it.
Last month, NHTSA announced that it was opening a new investigation into Autopilot/FSD after not being satisfied with the recall that came out of its previous investigation closed last year.
The agency said that several more crashes had been reported since the recall and is now questioning the “remedy,” which was an increase in alerts drivers get when using Autopilot.
Now, NHTSA says that “post-remedy crash events and results from preliminary NHTSA tests of remedied vehicles” is pushing them to revisit the situation.
Today, the agency released a new letter it sent to Tesla in which it requests extensive information about Autopilot/FSD. NHTSA is basically asking for all data and document that Tesla has related to these systems.
Tesla has notoriously been going out of its way not to release much data about Autopilot and its Full Self-Driving program. The automaker used a loophole to get around the CA DMV’s self-driving testing program data reporting.
Now, it is finally going to have to release everything as NHTSA warns that Tesla can face up to $135 million in fines if it doesn’t comply.
Here’s the full request from NHTSA:
Electrek’s Take
For years, I have been saying that Tesla’s reluctance to release any data on Autopilot/FSD being the very limited “safety report”, which Tesla itself stopped reporting more than a year ago, is a real red flag.
Most other companies working on self-driving programs have consistently released disengagement and driver intervention data in order to track progress, but Tesla has always resisted that.
Now, we are finally going to get actual data and not just anecdotal experiences and it only took a regulator to get involved and a threat of a $135 million fine.
If we knew that it was all we needed.
Hopefully, once the government has it, we will be able to get our hands on it, or at least a redacted version of it, through requests of information.