Tesla's advanced driver assistance system Autopilot fell in a ranking of 12 major systems, Consumer Reports said Wednesday.
Of 12 systems tested by Consumer Reports, a nonprofit organization that evaluates products and services, Ford Motor's BlueCruise was first, followed by General Motors' Super Cruise and Mercedes-Benz Driver Assistance.
Tesla, which was second in Consumer Reports ratings in 2020 behind Super Cruise, fell to seventh, the group said. The electric vehicle maker did not respond to a request for comment.
A 2016 video that Tesla (TSLA) (TSLA) used to promote its self-driving technology was staged to show capabilities like stopping at a red light and accelerating at a green light that the system did not have, according to testimony by a senior engineer.
Tesla is under criminal investigation in the United States over claims that the company's electric vehicles can drive themselves, three people familiar with the matter said.
The U.S. Department of Justice launched the previously undisclosed probe last year following more than a dozen crashes, some of them fatal, involving Tesla’s driver assistance system Autopilot, which was activated during the accidents, the people said.
Ralph Nader, a former presidential candidate and nationally recognized consumer protection advocate, called on federal regulators to recall Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) driver-assist feature, calling its deployment “one of the most dangerous and irresponsible actions by a car company in decades.”
The US highway safety watchdog has pushed Tesla for details about its driver-assistance systems, specifically whether it has barred some people testing the features from reporting possible safety concerns.
As part of a preliminary probe opened after a series of accidents with emergency vehicles, the regulator on Tuesday ordered Elon Musk’s electric car company to provide information about confidentiality agreements with drivers who have been testing a new feature since October 2020.
