NHTSA Is Probing Tesla’s A.S.S. (Actually Smart Summon)
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) O?ce of Defects Investigation (ODI) has opened a preliminary investigation into several accident reports related to Tesla’s Actually Smart Summon feature, which the company refers to as A.S.S.
The feature uses Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology to autonomously drive a vehicle to a person requesting it via a smartphone app.
Tesla advises that it should only be used off public roads and within the line of sight of the operator, who must keep their finger on a screen icon for it to work. The feature was originally called Smart Summon, but Tesla updated its functionality and rebranded it Actual Smart Summon last year.
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“ODI is aware of multiple crash allegations, involving both Smart Summon and Actually Smart Summon, where the user had too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement,” NHTSA said.
NHTSA is aware of 16 incidents involving the two versions of the feature, which included hitting posts and parked vehicles. No collisions with pedestrians ore have been reported.
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The investigation potentially affcts nearly 2.6 million vehicles, or virtually every 2016-2025 Model S, X, 2017-2025 Model 3 and 2020-2025 Model Y equipped with FSD, including those whose owners activated it as part of a trial period. The Cybertruck does not yet offer the feature.
Tesla has not commented on the investigation and there is no timetable for when it will be completed.
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