NBC News founded dozens of incidents in which Tesla owners using Full Self-Driving report near-misses with oncoming trains. The vehicles weren’t braking in time, forcing the drivers to intervene. Some cars stopped on the tracks, while others tried to actually turn onto the tracks. If I were trying to convince people my car company was actually on the cusp of solving real-world autonomy, I’d be very concerned by this!
IIHS moderate overlap crash test results for seven EVs show good ratings for the i4, Blazer EV, post-April 2025 Cybertruck, and ID.Buzz, and acceptable for Tesla’s Model 3. (No word on the door handles.)
The F-150 Lightning (poor) and Ariya (marginal) results showed risks of injuries to backseat passengers.
The Georgia plant, a joint venture with LG Energy Solutions, was supposed to start producing EV batteries later this year, but now is likely to be delayed by up to three months. Around 475 workers, mostly South Korean nationals who work for LG, were arrested in last week’s ICE raid. President Trump reportedly is trying to mollify the situation.
There is a growing number of incidents of Tesla owners becoming trapped in their burning vehicles after crashes, thanks to flush door handles, electrical power, and mechanical releases. US regulators have taken little action despite complaints about Tesla’s door handles “piling up” in the federal government’s database, Bloomberg reports.
[Bloomberg]
Politico reports that the company is seeking ridehailing permits from San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose airports. But this is a bit like putting the robo-cart before the horse. Tesla still hasn’t acquired permits from California’s DMV to operate a fully driverless robotaxi service in the state. Instead, it has safety monitors in the driver seat in all its ridehailing vehicles in the state.
