US agency says Tesla’s public statements imply that its vehicles can drive themselves. They can’t

The U.S. government's highway safety agency says Tesla is telling drivers in public statements that its vehicles can drive themselves, conflicting with the owner’s manual and briefings with the agency saying the electric vehicles need human supervision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking the company to “revisit its communications” to make sure messages are consistent with user instructions. The agency began the investigation in October after getting reports of four crashes involving “Full Self-Driving" when Teslas encountered sun glare, fog and airborne dust. An Arizona pedestrian was killed in one of the crashes. Critics, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have long accused Tesla of using deceptive names for its partially automated driving systems, including “Full Self-Driving” and “Autopilot,” both of which have been viewed by owners as fully autonomous. A letter and email raise further questions about whether “Full Self-Driving” will be ready for use without human drivers on public roads, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has predicted. In the email, Gregory Magno, a division chief with the agency's Office of Defects Investigation, writes that Tesla briefed the agency in April on an offer of a free trial of “Full Self-Driving” and emphasized that the owner's manual, user interface and a YouTube video tell humans that they have to remain vigilant and in full control of their vehicles. But Magno cited seven posts or reposts from Tesla's account on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, that indicated that “Full Self-Driving” is capable of driving itself. “Tesla's X account has reposted or endorsed postings that exhibit disengaged driver behavior,” Magno wrote. “We believe that Tesla's postings conflict with its stated messaging that the driver is to maintain continued control over the dynamic driving task." In addition, Tesla says on its website that the use of “Full Self-Driving” and “Autopilot” without human supervision depends on “achieving reliability" and regulatory approval, Magno wrote. But the statement is accompanied by a video of a man driving on local roads with his hands on his knees, with a statement that “The person in the driver's seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself,” the email said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.