The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday it had officially launched a preliminary investigation after receiving 354 complaints about Tesla's "accidental activation of a braking system that could cause rapid deceleration."
"Accidental activation of the braking system may cause rapid deceleration" commonly known as "ghost braking". The failure is a potential hazard for other vehicles following behind the vehicle. The so-called "ghost brake" means that when the user opens the autopilot assistance system of the Tesla vehicle, the vehicle will suddenly and without warning brakes without braking.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the survey involved about 416,000 Tesla Model 3/Y vehicles produced between 2021 and 2022. There have been no reports of collisions or injuries caused by brake problems. It is unclear whether the investigation will open a new round of Tesla's recall.
As U.S. safety regulators step up scrutiny of Tesla, Tesla has recently opened frequent large-scale recalls.
The National Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Thursday that Tesla recalled 578607 U.S. cars in the United States due to speaker function issues. This is Tesla's 11th recall since October last year. The recall is largely due to the ''Boombox'' feature in Tesla speakers, which allows drivers to play sounds while the vehicle is in motion, which could mask audible warnings to pedestrians, thus violating federal safety standards.
Tesla closed at $876.35 per share, down 5.09 percent, and its market value evaporated by 300 billion yuan. The latest total market capitalization is about $905.714 billion.