The national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) which investigates safety defects in vehicles, has launched an investigation into recent crashes involving Tesla motors.
The new crashes under investigation include a crash that occurred on November 24 on the bay bridge in San Francisco that entangled eight cars, which the driver of a 2021 Tesla Model S disclosed in a police report that the driving feature malfunctioned.
The other crash on the list involved a 2022 Tesla Model 3 which occurred in Ohio where a minor injury was reported.
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According to reports, the NHTSA is looking into at least 41 crashes involving Tesla vehicles where automated features such as automatic emergency braking, or more extensive driver assistance system features included in Autopilot, FSD, and FSD Beta were involved.
The records show that 14 of these investigations concern crashes that resulted in fatalities.
Tesla is also facing consumer lawsuits, and federal and state scrutiny over its safety claims and marketing practices. The California DMV has accused the automotive company of engaging in false advertising around its driver assistance systems.
Recall that the company’s CEO Elon Musk has touted Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) software as a potential cash cow for the world’s biggest electric carmaker.
However, the company’s advanced driver assistance systems and Musk’s claims about them, are currently facing legal, regulatory, and public scrutiny.
Following the news of investigations by the NHTSA on the recent Tesla car crashes, the company’s Shares sank on Thursday as Investors are concerned that it might negatively impact the demand for the company’s electric cars across the globe.
Some other investors have expressed worry that Musk has become disengaged as Tesla’s CEO, noting that he has shifted focus to Twitter, further causing Tesla’s stock to sink.
The electric vehicle giant has seen its stock plummet by 61% this year, making it the 11th-worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 in 2022.
However, following investors’ claims that his attention has become diverted, Musk disclosed in a Twitter space that he is still focused on Tesla, stating that there was not a single important meeting that he missed at Tesla since taking over at Twitter.
He further stated that he only sold Tesla shares because he was somewhat paranoid having gone through two very intense recessions.
Musk therefore went ahead to inform Tesla investors that he wouldn’t sell additional shares of his EV company shortly, noting that he only sold recently to prepare for a potential recession.
In his words, “I’m not selling any stock for, I don’t know, at minimum 18 to 24 months. So you can count on no stock sales until 2025 or something.
“I needed to sell some stock to make sure there was powder dry to account for a worst-case scenario.”
Also, with the recent unfriendly economic condition ravaging economies, Tesla has been forced to offer discounts on its cars in Canada, the U.S., Canada, China, and Mexico.