On March 20, according to Reuters, the U.S. auto safety regulator officially rejected a large-scale recall petition for 2.26 million Tesla vehicles today. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that after relevant assessments, it found no evidence of safety defects in Tesla vehicles related to "incorrect pedal depression." The official decision temporarily removes Tesla from the risk of a widespread recall.
The recall petition was first filed in March 2023. The proposer requested a recall of all Tesla models produced since 2013, on the grounds that differences in control mechanisms such as Tesla's "one-pedal" driving may increase the probability of the driver accidentally pressing the pedal, thereby causing unexpected acceleration. In its rejection decision, the regulator pointed out that the regenerative braking function is extremely common in the electric vehicle industry and is not a unique design of Tesla. Vehicle data reviewed by NHTSA showed that the vehicles involved responded accurately to actual driver inputs and that only a very small number of crashes were potentially related to such situations, so there is no evidence that the safety interventions proposed in the petition would have prevented such accidents.
Although the controversy over pedal design has come to an end for the time being, Tesla's autonomous driving technology still faces severe regulatory tests. On Thursday, NHTSA announced that it had expanded the scope of its investigation into 3.2 million Tesla vehicles equipped with fully autonomous driving (FSD) systems. Regulators are concerned that the system may not be able to accurately identify obstacles or warn drivers in time in poor visibility conditions. At present, the relevant review has been officially upgraded from the initial preliminary assessment to the engineering analysis stage, which is a key process that must be experienced before regulatory agencies mandate a recall.
While facing regulatory pressure in the United States, Tesla's autonomous driving business in the European market is advancing the approval process. Tesla revealed that the Dutch regulatory agency (RDW) is currently reviewing the relevant application materials for its FSD system and is expected to obtain regional approval around April 10. If progress goes well, this approval will provide the basis for Tesla's FSD system to obtain full EU-wide licensing this summer.