US investigates Tesla vehicles over unexpected braking reports

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday it is opening a formal investigation into 416,000 Tesla vehicles over reports of unexpected brake activation tied to its driver assistance system Autopilot, Report informs, citing Reuters.

The preliminary evaluation covers 2021-2022 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in the United States after the agency received 354 complaints about the issue over the past nine months. NHTSA said the vehicles under review have a advanced driver assistance system that Tesla calls Autopilot that allows them to brake and steer automatically within its lanes.

NHTSA said: "Complainants report that the rapid deceleration can occur without warning, at random, and often repeatedly in a single drive cycle."

Owners say they have raised concerns with Tesla, which has dismissed the complaints saying the braking is normal, and some have called it "phantom braking".

Tesla has come under increasingly scrutiny from NHTSA, which is investigating several issues and the electric vehicle manufacturer has issued 10 recalls since October, including many for software issues and some under pressure from the agency.