As Tesla has been the subject of many fatal crashes in recent years, Consumer Reports engineers have easily fooled a Tesla Model Y into driving on the electric carmaker's driver assistance feature, even though no one was in the driver's seat.
The Tesla Model Y automatically steered along painted lane lines during the test drive, but the machine did not alert me that the driver's seat was empty.
The engineers threw a thin, weighted chain on the steering wheel to imitate the weight of a driver's hand, then slid into the front passenger seat without opening either of the vehicle's doors, which would disable Autopilot, according to the report released on Thursday.
The engineers reached over and, using the same steering wheel dial, were able to accelerate the vehicle from a complete stop.
"Not only did the machine struggle to ensure that the driver was paying attention in our assessment, but it also couldn't tell if there was a driver there at all," says Jake Fisher, CR's senior director of auto research, who performed the experiment.
"Tesla is slipping behind other automakers like GM and Ford, which use technology to ensure that the driver is looking at the road on models with advanced driver assist systems."
Two people died in a fiery Tesla crash in Texas last week, with no one in the driver's seat. The cause of the fatal accident is still being investigated.
Constable Mark Herman of Harris County Precinct 4 told Houston television station KPRC 2 that the investigation revealed "no one was driving" the fully electric 2019 Tesla at the time of the crash.
Data logs recovered from the crashed Model S "so far indicate Autopilot was not allowed," Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted earlier this week.
Since there were no "painted lane lines" on the road where the crash occurred, Musk said it would be impossible to trigger Autopilot.
The Tesla car, on the other hand, "drove up and down the half-mile lane of our track, repeatedly, never noticing that no one was in the driver's seat, never noting that no one was touching the steering wheel, never noting that there was no weight on the seat," according to Fisher.
He was quoted as saying, "It was a little alarming when we realised how quick it was to overcome the protections, which we proved were obviously inadequate."
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating at least 23 Tesla Autopilot-related accidents (NHTSA).
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