Washington Investigates Tesla’s ‘Elon Mode’ Autopilot
U.S. highway safety regulators are launching an investigation into a potentially hidden feature within Tesla’s Autopilot software. This feature, informally referred to as “Elon mode,” can reportedly disable the safety prompts that remind drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel. Authorities are now seeking information from Tesla regarding whether consumers could exploit this feature to bypass safety controls on the automaker’s driver-assist technology.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) expressed concerns that the discovery of this setting, and its subsequent publicity, could encourage unsafe driving behavior. In a letter dated July 26, made public this week, NHTSA Acting Chief Counsel John Donaldson wrote, “NHTSA is concerned that this feature was introduced to consumer vehicles and, now that the existence of this feature is known to the public, more drivers may attempt to activate it.”
The letter further raised concerns about the potential for driver inattention and a failure to supervise Autopilot properly, should the safety controls be relaxed.
The investigation was prompted by a Twitter user’s claim in June that they had accessed a non-public setting in Tesla’s software, disabling the periodic prompts for steering wheel torque while Autopilot or Full Self-Driving modes were active. The user even claimed to have conducted a 600-mile test drive with these reminders disabled.
NHTSA has requested information from Tesla about the prevalence of the hidden feature, how it can be accessed, and why it was installed in consumer vehicles. They have also asked for records of crashes and near-misses involving Tesla vehicles with the hidden setting enabled.
Tesla has yet to respond publicly to this investigation. NHTSA’s letter set a deadline of August 25 for Tesla to comply, with potential fines of over $26,000 per day for failure to do so.
This investigation is part of a broader review by NHTSA into Tesla’s Autopilot software, prompted by numerous accidents allegedly linked to the technology. In the coming months, two lawsuits against Tesla related to its Autopilot system are scheduled to go to trial, further intensifying scrutiny of the technology’s safety and efficacy.
