Tesla FSD Safety Record 2026

2026 is a pivotal year for Tesla FSD. The system is simultaneously achieving its most ambitious milestone — unsupervised driving in Austin — while facing its most serious regulatory challenge: NHTSA PE25012 escalated to Engineering Analysis, covering 3.2 million vehicles.

FSD v13: End-to-End Neural Network

FSD v13 introduced a fully end-to-end neural network, eliminating hand-coded rules. Early reports show smoother driving and fewer phantom braking events, but new failure modes in construction zones and multi-lane roads.

Unsupervised FSD in Austin

Tesla launched unsupervised FSD in Austin in June 2025 with ~50 Model Y vehicles. This transitions Tesla from ADAS to ADS classification — the same category as Waymo. Early data shows no fatalities but several minor incidents in a limited geofenced area.

PE25012: The Investigation That Could Change Everything

NHTSA's investigation into camera visibility failures has been escalated to Engineering Analysis — the final step before a mandatory recall. 9 documented crashes, 1 fatal. If a defect is found, Tesla could face hardware retrofit requirements affecting 3.2 million vehicles.