How Elon Musk’s crusade against government could benefit Tesla
Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a non-profit consumer advocacy group, said some investigations might continue under Trump, but a recall is less likely to happen if a defect is found. “If there isn’t a threat of recall, will Tesla do them?” Brooks said. “Unfortunately, this is where politics seeps in.”
by Kimberly Kindy and Brian Slodysko
February 11, 2025
Elon Musk has long railed against the U.S. government, saying a crushing number of federal investigations and safety programs have stymied Tesla, his electric car company, and its efforts to create fleets of robotaxis and other self-driving automobiles.
Now, Musk’s close relationship with President Donald Trump means many of those federal headaches could vanish within weeks or months.
On the potential chopping block: crash investigations into Tesla’s partially automated vehicles; a Justice Department criminal probe examining whether Musk and Tesla have overstated their cars’ self-driving capabilities; and a government mandate to report crash data on vehicles using technology like Tesla’s Autopilot.
The consequences of such actions could prove dire, say safety advocates who credit the federal investigations and recalls with saving lives.
“Musk wants to run the Department of Transportation,” said Missy Cummings, a former senior safety adviser at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “I’ve lost count of the number of investigations that are underway with Tesla. They will all be gone.”
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