NTSB ‘unhappy’ over Tesla crash statement

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s bad spell is continuing into a second month, amid a spat with a federal safety agency, an auto recall and production issues and an adverse court ruling.

Shares of the Musk-led electric car company Tesla slipped amid National Transportation Safety Board displeasure with the firm’s disclosure of preliminary details about a fatal Tesla crash.

Christopher O’Neil, an NTSB spokesperson said the safety agency was unhappy with Tesla’s announcement that its Autopilot partial self-driving system was engaged when one of its Model X electric crossover SUVs crashed on March 23 in Mountain View, Calif., killing the driver.

“The NTSB is unhappy with the release of investigative information by Tesla,” said O’Neil.

The criticism responded to Tesla’s disclosure in a blog post that logs from the SUV showed the driver’s hands hadn’t been detected on the steering wheel for six seconds prior to the accident. The post did not say that Tesla’s Autopilot system was at fault in the crash.

The preliminary accident details could prompt new safety questions about Autopilot, which was also engaged when a Tesla Model S sedan crashed into a truck and killed its driver in Florida last year.

Tesla’s Autopilot technology is a partial self-driving system, representing an enhanced version of the cruise control found in many vehicles. However, self-driving technology has come under scrutiny since an Uber car in self-driving mode struck and killed a woman crossing a street in Tempe, Ariz.

Along with the safety concerns, Tesla was hit with a legal setback last week via a Delaware Chancery Court ruling that dissatisfied Tesla investors may continue their lawsuit that challenges the firm’s 2016 acquisition of SolarCity, the solar energy system installer in San Mateo, Calif., founded by Musk and two of his cousins.

The decision said the $2.6-billion deal was flawed by potential conflicts of interest involving Musk and other company directors. Tesla investors who filed the lawsuit provided enough evidence to show it was “reasonably conceivable” that Musk controlled the Tesla board, even though he is a minority stakeholder in the electric car company, the court ruled.

“We do not agree with the decision and will be taking appropriate next steps,” Tesla said in a statement last week.