After the Robotaxi launch event, Tesla suffered a heavy blow: NHTSA launched an investigation into FSD accidents

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, the global top electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla (TSLA.US) will face an investigation initiated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States. Previously, a Tesla electric vehicle equipped with the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system hit a pedestrian, resulting in the unfortunate death of the pedestrian. It is understood that the investigation covers approximately 2.41 million Tesla vehicles, including Model S from 2016 to 2024, Model X from 2016 to 2024, Model 3 from 2017 to 2024, Model Y from 2020 to 2024, and models equipped with FSD in 2023. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) of this American automotive safety regulatory agency stated that they have identified four traffic accident reports involving Tesla vehicles with the "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) function enabled. These cases involve accidents where Tesla vehicles failed to effectively respond to the environment when road visibility was reduced, leading to collision accidents. In one of the accidents, a Tesla vehicle under the Tesla brand experienced a severe collision after entering an area with reduced road visibility due to the activation of FSD. In one of the accidents, a Tesla vehicle with the Full Self-Driving (FSD) function enabled hit a pedestrian, resulting in the pedestrian's death. It is reported that the ODI has begun a preliminary assessment of Tesla's FSD and will evaluate the system's ability to detect and respond appropriately in situations of reduced road visibility, any updates or modifications Tesla makes to the FSD system, which may affect the performance of FSD in reduced road visibility conditions, and other issues. Under the impact of this negative news, the stock price of this electric vehicle manufacturer fell by 0.86% in pre-market trading, erasing earlier pre-market gains. Although Tesla has deployed the FSD function in some vehicles, the system is still considered an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) rather than fully autonomous driving technology in the United States. U.S. traffic regulatory agencies - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) - are still conducting strict evaluations and investigations on FSD. In the United States, Tesla's FSD is currently in the testing phase, and some users can participate in Tesla's "FSD Beta Program," which allows limited users to use the FSD function in actual driving, but drivers must always maintain control and attention to the vehicle. U.S. regulators require that these Tesla vehicles be ready to take control at all times when FSD is enabled, meaning the system is not currently considered "fully autonomous driving." Therefore, if the Tesla FSD system is associated with serious traffic accidents, it will undoubtedly pose a significant obstacle to Tesla's ambitions for autonomous driving and the full market launch of Robotaxi in the future. The "fully unmanned driving version" of Tesla's FSD system is the core technology of Robotaxi. However, all technologies related to "fully unmanned driving that frees human hands" currently require formal approval from U.S. regulatory agencies Being classified as a "major traffic accident" could potentially trigger a large number of legal lawsuits, which may further impact the development of FSD and the commercialization of Robotaxi. Tesla may need to spend a significant amount of time and resources dealing with legal issues, which could slow down the iteration of technology and the introduction of new features. It is reported that since the launch of the Robotaxi self-driving taxi last week, Tesla's stock price has dropped by 7.5%. Looking at Tesla's recent stock price trend, Musk's long-standing promotion of Robotaxi has not gained favor from global investors, leading to a continuous decline in Tesla's stock price after the Robotaxi launch event. Wall Street investment firm Bernstein stated that Robotaxi leans towards a grand narrative, but for Tesla's current weak performance and expensive valuation support, it seems to have no practical significance