Tesla is under investigation by the NHTSA once again, this time over the automaker’s “Actually Smart Summon” feature, which allows users to recall their Tesla to their location remotely, for example across a parking lot. The NHTSA investigation covers 16 accidents involving a huge range of Tesla vehicles. Previously, Tesla shelved Smart Summon, re-introducing it as Actually Smart Summon after the company removed radar and millimeter-wave sensors in favor of its current camera-only approach to its driver assistance software.
The NHTSA Says Tesla’s Summon Feature Caused Accidents
The 16 incidents span the use of Tesla’s smart summon feature in the following models: 2020-2025 Model Ys, 2017-2025 Model 3s, and Model S and Model X made from 2016-2025. All told, the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation says this totals some 2.6 million models. Materials published by the NHTSA say the agency is concerned with “crash allegations, involving both Smart Summon and Actually Smart Summon, where the user had too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement.”
Further materials indicate the administration is, thankfully, not aware of any injuries or fatalities as relates to Smart Summon or Actually Smart Summon, which are defined by the NHTSA as follows: “features on certain Tesla vehicles that allow a user to remotely move the vehicle to the user or to another designated location, through use of a phone app.”
What’s Next?
The ODI investigation will take some time, and several aspects of the system must be evaluated before the NHTSA draws any conclusions. “NTSA will evaluate the top speed that a vehicle can attain while Actually Smart Summon is engaged, designed-in operating restrictions for usage on public roads, and line of sight requirements. NHTSA expects this preliminary evaluation to include review of remote vehicle control through the phone app at various distances and lines of sight, including app connectivity delays resulting in increased stopping distance and the ability to utilize Actually Smart Summon in roadway
environments or operating conditions for which the current version of the system is neither intended nor designed.”
TopSpeed’s Take
The incoming Trump Administration, and its top advisor, Elon Musk, will hold sway over the NHTSA. Given the Administration’s focus on cutting bureaucratic processes and Musk’s role within it, the NHTSA’s investigation is, to say the least, subject to change over the next year. What will become of the NHTSA’s relationship with the Trump Administration and with Tesla will have to wait until President Trump takes office on January 20.
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