NHTSA escalates Tesla FSD probe

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has escalated its Tesla Full Self-Driving probe from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis. (nhtsa.gov) That step, opened as EA26002 in March 2026, is a deeper defect-investigation phase that can lead to a recall. It follows NHTSA’s October 2024 preliminary evaluation into whether FSD behaved unsafely in low-visibility conditions such as sun glare, fog, and airborne dust. (nhtsa.gov 1) (nhtsa.gov 2) NHTSA’s new notice says Tesla told investigators that an update to its “degradation detection system” may have changed the outcome in three of the nine incidents the agency identified. The agency is examining the timing, purpose, and safety impact of those software changes. (nhtsa.gov) The degradation system is Tesla’s software for recognizing when cameras are compromised by weather, glare, or other visibility problems. NHTSA says Tesla moved from a camera-and-radar approach to an exclusively camera-based “Tesla Vision” setup in mid-2021, then deployed the detection system by software update. (nhtsa.gov) A separate NHTSA investigation, opened in October 2024, is also examining whether FSD versions labeled “FSD (Supervised)” and “FSD (Beta)” executed maneuvers that violated traffic-safety rules. That case covers an SAE Level 2 system, meaning the driver is still supposed to stay fully attentive and responsible at all times. (nhtsa.gov) Tesla’s public FSD page says the product “does not make the vehicle autonomous,” even as the company markets features including route navigation, lane changes, parking, and summon functions. Tesla’s safety-report page says FSD (Supervised) has logged more than 9.3 billion miles. (tesla.com 1) (tesla.com 2) At the same time, Tesla is trying to widen where it can test the system. Strängnäs municipality in Sweden said on April 27 that its technical and leisure committee wants to approve tests of autonomous vehicles on municipal roads for up to one year, but only if the Swedish Transport Agency grants the permit. (strangnas.se) (transportstyrelsen.se) The Swedish agency says it issues permits for public-road trials only if applicants can show the operation can be conducted safely. Strängnäs did not name Tesla in its notice, but the timing matches reports that Tesla is seeking European road-testing approvals for FSD. (transportstyrelsen.se) (strangnas.se) The result is a split-screen moment for Tesla: tighter federal scrutiny in the United States, and potential new public-road testing in Europe. The next markers are whether NHTSA seeks corrective action and whether Sweden’s national regulator signs off on the trial permit. (nhtsa.gov) (transportstyrelsen.se)