German regulators are looking to further limit Autopilot features in an ongoing investigation
Automated exits were removed from Autopilot a few months ago, but this might not be good enough.
In an ongoing investigation into Tesla's Autopilot system by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), the electric car manufacturers driver assistance feature is under more scrutiny. According to a spokesman for the KBA, the KBA carried out multiple reviews on Tesla vehicles as part of market surveillance and found "anomalies". Tesla have now since partially fixed the issues. In the case of the remaining problems, the KBA said "further remedial measures are still in testing".
In previous investigations/reviews, the KBA had criticised the automated lane change on exits and automated fork manoeuvers, which are not legal under UNECE regulations make into law in the EU (and the United Kingdom).
In Update 2022.16.1.2, Tesla introduced the 'Navigate On Autopilot Fork Initiation' changes which prevented the vehicles from moving off a motorway exit or interchange. The release notes stated:
Navigate on Autopilot has been updated to require a driver-initiated request before the vehicle will select a motorway exit or interchange. This driver-initiated request can be made by using the turn signal stalk shortly before the lateral maneuver is required. Please remain attentive and ready to initiate these maneuvers to remain on the navigation route. This update serves as a remedy to a noncompliance recall of the prior capability (not requiring a driver-initiated request) and only affects vehicles with the Navigate on Autopilot feature in markets that apply European (ECE) regulation.
Read the full release notes for version 2022.16.1.2 here.
In addition, the KBA was frustrated by the lack of transparency with their software updates and changes, stating: "If we do not receive information, we cannot rule out that systems are not compliant," said KBA President Richard Damm in an interview and threatened to disable affected Teslas where ECE regulations apply.
In the USA, the main transport authority is investigating several fatal and serious collisions where Teslas were on Autopilot.
