In 2016 , Elon Musk promised that Tesla owners would be capable to “ cite ” their vehicle from anywhere , including having acar in New York come in to its driver in Los Angeles . In 2025 , Tesla ’s summon technology is under investigation because it keeps gate-crash into posts and parked car . The National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationannouncedTuesday that it will launch a investigation into 2.6 million Tesla vehicles over safety concerns colligate to the “ Actually Smart Summon ” feature .

The preliminary evaluation of Tesla ’s remote driving lineament follows multiple reports of chance event require Smart Summon and in reality Smart Summon . According to the NHTSA ’s Office of Defects Investigation ( ODI ) , the probe will count at the top speed that a vehicle can travel while being remotely controlled , connectivity wait that pass when a vehicle is summoned , and whether Tesla ’s independent drive software system can sufficiently navigate the surroundings it is being used in .

A brief history of Summon , which has had a check history for Tesla : A rendering of the feature film has been usable in Tesla vehicles equipped with the company ’s dubiously key “ Full ego - Driving capacity ” ( FSD ) since 2016 . In theory , the engineering science is designed to grant a driver to call for their vehicle to follow to them , allowing it to autonomously navigate without a mortal inside the vehicle . ab initio , it only worked to hark back a car from a driveway or parking lot .

An aerial view of Tesla cars sitting in a parking lot

An aerial view of Tesla cars sitting in a parking lot© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

It eventually gotupgraded to Smart Summonin 2019 , which enabled the vehicle to voyage more complex situations and call back a car from up to 200 feet . After missing many ( many ) ego - imposed deadlines from Musk , Tesla in the end introduced itsActually Smart Summon(abbreviated tosighASS ) tardily last year . In monastic order to use ASS , car owners must press and hold down a button in the Tesla app while the railcar is operating autonomously — an sweat to make the possessor monitor the car to make certain it does n’t doss down . The feature article has been pan asslow and inefficient .

Now it ’s being look into for causing accidents . According to the NHTSA , there is only one prescribed reputation of an stroke require a variant of the Summon software , but there have been at least three media reports of similar stroke and 12 reports of clash related to the software that have hail in up Vehicle Owners Questionnaires . Of the 16 entire reports on the NHTSA ’s radio detection and ranging , Tesla has shared exactly zero of them with the way despite requirements for crashes take Automated Driving Systems to be reported .

Musk probably is n’t sweating that too much — part of his whole movement of befriending President - elect Donald Trump has been tolobby for the rollback of accident report requirementsfor autonomous vehicles . It seems probable he ’ll get his regard , and there ’s a non - zero chance this probe gets closed before it even really gets begin .

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Even if this probe gets shut down by the incoming presidential term , it has n’t exactly been a banner couple of years for Tesla ’s independent tech . The NHTSAopened an investigationinto the company ’s Full Self - drive organisation last twelvemonth follow a serial of gamy - visibility crashes that allegedly involved the technology . The company recalled its Autopilot technology on more than two million car back in 2023 , and the NHTSA isstill looking into whether its fixes were really sufficientto address risk associated with the computer software . The Department of Justice , meanwhile , is still in the process ofdetermining whether Tesla misdirect consumer and investorswith how it has advertised its ego - driving features .

self-propelled industryAutonomous CarsSelf - drive carsTESLA

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