Back in October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed the appointment of Mary "Missy" Cummings as a special adviser for safety.
By all standards, it was a non-news event – except for one small fact: It caught the ire and fury of Tesla's (TSLA) co-founder, chief executive and technoking, Elon Musk, who along with thousands of Tesla devotees saw the appointment of the Duke University engineering professor as a direct challenge and affront.
What had them in a tizzy were Cummings's past comments on both Tesla and Musk, which before her appointment ranged from criticism to outright condemnation. A platform in Washington, critics seethed, was carte blanche for her -- and Nhtsa -- to flash the high-beams at Tesla whenever it felt like it.
With the growing list of public complaints and outright recalls against Tesla, one might be forgiven for thinking that's exactly what's happening.
Rolling Stops, Heat-Pump Failures and More
In the past six months, Nhtsa has publicly called out Tesla on at least four safety and performance issues. And it has issued one official safety recall that has forced the Austin electric-vehicle maker to recall 54,000 vehicles over its self-driving feature that allows cars to perform a “rolling stop.”
“Nhtsa is aware of complaints received about forward collision avoidance and is reviewing them through our risk-based evaluation process. This process includes discussions with the manufacturer, as well as reviewing additional data sources, including Early Warning Reporting data. If the data show that a risk may exist, Nhtsa will act immediately.”
That followed a request from the agency for more information from Tesla in relation to its investigation into 580,000 Tesla vehicles over “Passenger Play,” which gave Tesla passengers the ability to play games on the cars' infotainment systems while the cars were in motion.
Nhtsa is also asking Tesla to provide any studies and other information supporting its risk assessment “in employment of front-seat non-driving related tasks from in-vehicle based devices even if the task is intended only for front-seat passenger.”
Nhtsa vs. Tesla: Game On?
And there’s more.
The auto-safety regulator in mid-January said it was discussing heating issues of some Tesla vehicles with the automaker and evaluating "potential safety concerns."
That followed a late-December recall involving more than 475,000 Model 3 and Model S electric cars to address rear-view camera and trunk issues that the agency said increase the risk of crashing.
In November, it was a recall about potential false forward-collision warnings.
With each challenge, Tesla has dutifully responded with actual recalls and over-the-air software updates that have tweaked or outright disabled each feature being questioned or challenged by Nhtsa – even as the agency has challenged whether software updates themselves are good enough to address the issues.
The likely bigger-picture view from Musk and his Tesla loyalists is that it’s Game On.
While getting specific numbers regarding safety and performance issues on all makes and models of cars is difficult, it’s fair to say that Tesla specifically has been in Nhtsa's crosshairs more than others over the past few weeks and months.
Who is Mary "Missy" Cummings?
Musk himself has publicly accused Cummings of bias, while stockholders and other supporters have mobilized on social media and charged her with conflict of interest, even positing her nomination as an attempt by politicians to influence the stock market.
That’s because Cummings, a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, also has a financial stake in an automotive supplier that produces lidar, a technology Musk has repeatedly claimed isn't necessary for self-driving cars.
A study published last year that Cummings co-wrote also noted that Tesla's technology, which doesn’t make vehicles completely autonomous, performed inconsistently.
So far, Musk has kept his thumbs in his pockets, refraining from publicly criticizing Nhtsa and Cummings, and its numerous requests and demands, on Twitter or anywhere else.
Not so for Tesla fans and loyalists, who have grouped the agency's perceived bullying of Tesla with President Joe Biden’s snub of the U.S. top-selling electric-car maker -- and have taken social media to express their views.
Is It Personal, Political, or Both?
More than 33,000 people have signed a petition on change.org, asking Biden to acknowledge Tesla’s electric-vehicle leadership. The petitioners have accused the president of ignoring Tesla, a nonunion company, in favor of the traditional Detroit automakers, which are unionized.
The administration’s perceived neglect has irked some in Musk’s huge fan base of over 72 million followers on Twitter, as well as Musk himself. “For reasons unknown,” Musk tweeted Sunday, referring to the president, “@potus is unable to say the word ‘Tesla.’ ”
After Biden tweeted on Thursday that General Motors (GM), Ford (F) and others are building more electric vehicles in the U.S. than ever, Musk observed on Twitter that “Biden is treating the American public like fools.”
Whether Nhtsa’s investigations and recall demands are real or political will likely never be known.
As for what Musk thinks about the agency's recent scrutiny and how it does or doesn’t fit in with the current administration’s dim view of the EV maker – for that, keep an eye on Twitter, specifically @elonmusk.
