American auto safety regulator has a ‘good news’ for Elon Musk’s Tesla

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has closed its probe into Elon Musk-owned Tesla’s “actually smart summon” feature. The auto safety regulator said that the feature, covering over 2.59 million vehicles, was linked only to low-speed incidents with no injuries ‌ or fatalities. As reported by news agency Reuters, the agency stated that closing the probe does not mean that a safety-related defect did not exist, adding that it reserves the right to take further action if ‌warranted.

What is Tesla’s “actually smart summon” feature

Tesla’s “actually smart summon” feature enables users to remotely move vehicles over short distances such as in parking areas or private property. The car can be maneuvered using a smartphone app while maintaining continuous supervision.

According to a Reuters report, the agency concluded that most of the reported incidents involved vehicles ⁠striking obstacles such as parked cars, garage doors or gates, often early in a summon session when visibility or situational awareness was limited.

Tesla has addressed the issues identified in the probe through a series of over-the-air software updates, the US auto safety regulator said. These updates, as per the report, were aimed at improving how the vehicle detects obstacles, identifies blocked cameras and responds to moving objects such as gates.

The regulator added that Tesla also worked to fix problems caused by environmental conditions, including snow and condensation, which could affect camera performance and reduce visibility.

Despite closing the probe into the “actually smart summon” feature, Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance systems continue to remain under close watch. Last month, the regulator upgraded its investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system to an “engineering analysis,” which is a more advanced stage and can often lead to a recall. The review was also expanded to cover around 3.2 million vehicles.