The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday it had opened a probe into about 2.6 million Tesla Motors vehicles after reports of some crashes linked to its "Actually Smart Summon" driverless feature.
U.S.-listed shares of the company fell 2% in premarket trading.
The NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation said it had received one complaint alleging a crash when the feature was being used and had reviewed at least three media reports of similar crashes linked to it.
All crashes involve the Tesla vehicles operating in Actually Smart Summon, and they failed to detect posts or parked vehicles, resulting in crashes, the regulator said.
"The ODI is aware of multiple crash allegations, involving both Smart Summon and Actually Smart Summon, where the user had too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle's movement," it added.
Actually Smart Summon, a feature rolled out late last year, allows users to remotely move their vehicle towards them or another location using a smartphone application.
This is the traffic safety regulator's second major probe on Tesla in about four months involving its automated driving features.
The regulator in October opened an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD) software after four reported collisions, including a 2023 fatal crash.
The heightened scrutiny of the advanced driver assistance system comes as CEO Elon Musk looks to pivot towards self-driving technology and robotaxis.
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