The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reopened an investigation into alleged unintended acceleration on Tesla vehicles following a petition received by the Office of Defects Investigation. The petition, filed by Roland Belt of Plymouth, Minnesota, alleges a design flaw in the inverter that allows for intermittent higher electrical current flow through a vehicle’s 12-volt electrical system, which could result in unintended acceleration incidents. The new petition includes information about the inverter design that was not previously considered in the investigation. However, some Tesla hackers, such as Jason Hughes and Green, have dismissed the claims in the petition, stating that the design cited is not similar to what Tesla uses and that a drop in the 12-volt system voltage would not cause an unintended acceleration event. The investigation will likely include testing of the inverter controller PCB to verify the claims made in the petition. The NHTSA had previously denied a call for further investigation into unintended acceleration in Tesla vehicles in 2020, but has now reversed that decision based on the new information provided in Belt’s petition. The investigation covers approximately 1.8 million Tesla vehicles in the US, including almost every Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y sold in the country. Updates on the investigation will be provided as more information becomes available.
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Tesla facing another investigation by NHTSA for unintended acceleration
