An observation regarding some of the company’s most recent software was made by Green, a well-known Twitter user who has a history of using software analysis to provide insights about Tesla. This revelation caught the attention of a European group dedicated to vehicle safety.
Green noted on Twitter that Tesla’s software recently included the names of vehicle testing facilities in Australia and Asia. Located in Europe, China, and Korea, he added, further car testing facilities are also referenced in the code. These locations, which are supported by the government and the industry, host significant tests that serve as benchmarks for car safety. Green speculates that this peculiar inclusion of test site names in the code might mean that Tesla vehicles are engineered to operate differently in testing environments. Thus, the validity of the test results can be compromised.
Following this recommendation, Euro NCAP, a government-backed agency in Europe that assesses the safety of vehicles, is now looking into Tesla.
Regulators have not yet discovered any proof of wrongdoing, according to Aled Williams, programme director for Euro NCAP, who wrote to CNN Business last week. The new automobile assessment programme is known as NCAP. The organisation runs testing and rates the safety of new cars from zero to five stars. It enjoys great reputation throughout Europe.
“Euro NCAP places the utmost significance on maintaining the integrity of its star-rating system, and we will keep doing everything in our power to make sure the rating accurately reflects the level of safety that consumers can expect from their vehicles,” Williams added. According to Euro NCAP, its investigations “had not yet turned up any proof of a Tesla attempt to ‘cheat’ the tests.” Shortly after Green’s tweets, Euro NCAP declared that it was looking into the results and requesting more information from Tesla.
A request for comment on the probe was not met with any response from Tesla.
According to Williams, the organisation looked at Tesla’s software updates to test vehicles but could not discover any flaws.
Williams claimed that the inquiry was not unusual because it frequently examined vehicle performance more extensively to confirm findings. According to him, the Tesla inquiry has garnered more attention than others.
Geofencing can be used to turn a function on or off in a certain area, according to Green. For instance, Tesla has restricted the use of its “full self-driving” driver assistance system in certain areas of Toronto.
