The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) closed its second investigation on Tesla vehicles in a week. This follows the end of an Autopilot probe last week. The administration conducted the investigation in 158,716 Tesla vehicles. The issue was initially described in a document from 2020 as the failure of the touchscreen resulting in the loss of the rear camera image display when the reverse gear is selected, leading to reduced rear visibility when backing up.
The NHTSA noted that the issue would take only five to six years to fully consume, and that once the memory was gone, the operation would no longer occur. Tesla filed a recall in January 2021 and provided free hardware in addition to an Over-the-Air update, which effectively remedied the issue. This led the NHTSA to close the investigation, as it determined that Tesla’s hardware update and OTA update “appears to address the unreasonable risk to motor safety presented by the premature failure of the component.”
Another investigation into Tesla Autopilot was closed on April 26, following the automaker’s rollout of a recall in December. The recall aimed to “increase the prominence of visual alerts on the user interface, simplify engagement and disengagement of Autosteer, make additional checks upon engaging Autosteer while using the feature outside of controlled access highways, and when approaching traffic controls,” among other things.
Tesla’s actions led to the closure of this investigation.