The U.S. Department of Justice has asked Tesla for documents related to its brand of fully autonomous driving and Autopilot advanced driver assistance systems, the automaker said in a securities filing.
“We have received a request from the Department of Justice for documentation related to Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features,” Tesla said in the filing. “To our knowledge, no government agency has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred in its ongoing investigation,” Tesla noted in a 10K filing posted Monday.
Tesla has been under investigation by the DOJ for at least a year, Reuters reported last fall, citing three people familiar with the matter. It’s unclear if the DOJ’s request for documents is related to its investigation, which began in late 2021 following a dozen accidents related to Tesla’s active use of his Autopilot system.
Tesla vehicles come standard with Autopilot branded driver assistance systems. For an additional $15,000, owners can purchase a “fully self-driving” or FSD. It’s a feature that CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly promised to one day provide full self-driving capabilities.
None of these systems are self-driving. Autopilot and her FSD are advanced driver assistance systems that automate some driving tasks, but the driver must be ready to take over driving at any moment. Autopilot keeps the vehicle in the center of the lane, automatically changes lanes, and maintains a proper following distance from other vehicles in traffic. FSD has features such as an active guidance system that navigates the car from highway entry ramps to exit ramps, such as interchanges and lane changes.
Musk’s claims and commitments to these systems, as well as its branding, have attracted the attention of regulators. The DOJ investigation reflects increased regulatory scrutiny of Tesla.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Tesla CEO Elon Musk for specific comments and efforts to further automakers’ claims about “self-driving” capabilities. The investigation is based on testimony from a Tesla engineer that Musk directed the video, which was actually staged in 2016 claiming Tesla cars were driving themselves.
Tesla has been investigated and sued by several agencies and individuals for self-driving claims. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a number of special investigations into Tesla for crashes involving Autopilot. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla of mispromoting its own ADAS. The driver sued the company for deceptive marketing.
Not all the attention has hampered Musk. On Tesla’s fourth-quarter 2022 earnings call, Musk said, “Full self-driving is obviously getting better very quickly.” In the past, he has boasted that Tesla is trying to “solve” full self-driving cars.
