#Tesla drops radar from lower-priced cars amid ‘self-driving’ scrutiny

Tesla said it is dropping radar systems in its lower-priced electric cars in favor of cameras and other AI equipment — even as the company faces growing scrutiny over its “autonomous driving” features. 

Starting in May, Model 3 and Model Y Teslas sold in North America will no longer feature radar, which until now has been an important component of the vehicles’ “self-driving” and “autopilot” features, the company revealed Tuesday.

“These will be the first Tesla vehicles to rely on camera vision and neural net processing to deliver Autopilot, Full-Self Driving and certain active safety features,” the company said on its website. 

New, radar-less Tesla vehicles may temporarily have at least three features disabled “for a short period during this transition,” according to the company. 

The automatic steering feature may be limited to a maximum speed of 75 miles per hour and will require a longer distance between vehicles. “Smart Summon,” which retrieves vehicles from parking lots without requiring drivers to be behind the wheel, may also be disabled — as may a feature that prevents cars from swerving out of lanes in emergencies.

CEO Elon Musk first hinted at the change on Twitter in March when he said the company was “going with pure vision — not even using radar.” 

The switch-up comes as Tesla faces heat from regulators over its autonomous driving features, which allow cars to stop at traffic lights, switch lanes and exit highways as long as drivers remain awake and alert at the wheel. The California Department of Motor Vehicles is currently reviewing whether such claims mislead consumers under the state’s laws. 

Several recent fatal crashes may be linked to autopilot, investigators say. The California Highway Patrol is probing whether Tesla’s autopilot mode was a “contributing factor” in a fatal crash earlier this month, after a Tesla owner who was killed east of Los Angeles posted videos of himself driving without his hands on the wheel. Federal regulators are also investigating a separate, potentially autopilot-linked crash that occurred outside San Francisco in March.  

It’s unclear how Tesla eliminating radar from its vehicles may impact regulators’ views of the company. Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for comment.