The Justice Department is expanding its investigation into Tesla and has issued subpoenas for more information from the electric vehicle manufacturer.
Federal prosecutors are going beyond the company's partially automated driving systems amid the ongoing probe. Tesla said in a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into "personal benefits, related parties, vehicle range, and personnel decisions" without giving any details.
Justice Department Expands Tesla Investigation
The additional investigation topics and the subpoenas suggest that prosecutors have decided to broaden the inquiry. Legal experts argued that it also seems that they have found the need to force the electric vehicle manufacturer to disclose information.
The new filing indicates that prosecutors may be investigating Tesla CEO Elon Musk and whether or not his company has been candid in describing the features of its vehicles. In January, the company disclosed that the DOJ requested documents related to its Autopilot and "Full Self-Driving" features, as per the Independent.
The two features are classified as driver-assist systems and the company later went on to say that the vehicles it manufactures cannot drive themselves. But Tesla is now disclosing a probe that is "a lot wider than just looking at Autopilot and FSD features."
A University of Michigan business and law professor, Erik Gordon, said that the DOJ frequently starts with a formal written request and escalates to administration subpoenas if it believes that it is not getting full cooperation from the other party.
Gordon added that specifying additional items that prosecutors are looking at suggests that Tesla lawyers found them serious enough to change the company's public disclosures. The electric vehicle manufacturer did not respond to requests for comment following the latest development.
A report in October 2022 noted that Tesla was placed under a DOJ criminal investigation over claims that the company's electric vehicles can drive themselves. Earlier this year, another report noted that federal prosecutors were also looking into Tesla vehicle performance claims as well as the company's use of funds on a secret project that was described internally as a house for Musk, according to Reuters.
Failure To Achieve Advertised Ranges
There were reports that Tesla cars frequently failed to achieve their advertised range estimates and projections that were shown by the vehicles' own equipment. For more than two years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating the performance of Autopilot.
This came after identifying more than a dozen crashes in which Tesla cars hit stationary emergency vehicles and whether or not they adequately ensure drivers are paying attention when using the driver assistance system.
Tesla vehicles allegedly fell short of the range indicated by the Environmental Protection Agency based on road testing. While the range of all battery-powered cars suffers during cold weather, a Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle that was tested fell at least 50 miles short of the claimed range even in warm weather conditions.
On the other hand, the Ford Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4 SUVs exceeded their claimed warm-weather ranges after testing despite performing under identical conditions as the Tesla model, said the New York Times.