NHTSA upgrades the FSD probe to an Engineering Analysis (EA26002)

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has upgraded its investigation into Tesla's FSD (Supervised) system from a preliminary evaluation to an Engineering Analysis, designated EA26002. The decision was taken on 18 March 2026, and the investigation covers roughly 3.2 million vehicles.

The focus of the inquiry is the system's behaviour in reduced-visibility conditions. NHTSA found that the degradation-detection mechanism did not recognise common roadway conditions that impaired camera visibility — including sun glare, fog and dust — and failed to warn the driver when performance deteriorated. The agency linked a number of incidents to this, among them cases involving a fatality and an injury.

An Engineering Analysis is typically the stage before a possible recall decision. It involves deeper technical testing and comparison with other manufacturers' systems; under NHTSA's rules the phase must be completed within 18 months. The agency also noted that Tesla did not always identify crashes consistently, pointing to possible under-reporting.

For owners in the US the investigation does not by itself recall or disable FSD (Supervised): the system remains available. But the upgrade to an Engineering Analysis means the regulator has formally moved closer to the point at which it could require corrective action, up to and including a recall, if it judges the risks to be significant.