Consumer Reports reported Thursday that it conducted tests that attempted to trick Tesla’s Autopilot.
The outlet took a 2020 Tesla Model Y to test track and attempted to get the car to drive with nobody in the driver’s seat.
“Consumer Reports engineers easily tricked our Tesla Model Y this week so that it could drive on Autopilot, the automaker’s driver assistance feature, without anyone in the driver’s seat—a scenario that would present extreme danger if it were repeated on public roads,” the report said. “Over several trips across our half-mile closed test track, our Model Y automatically steered along painted lane lines, but the system did not send out a warning or indicate in any way that the driver’s seat was empty.”
To trick the car, the outlet put a weighted chain on the wheel and kept the seat belt buckled. Tesla vehicles have sensors in the steering wheel that can detect whether a driver’s hands are on the wheel. An alarm will sound if the driver keeps their hands off the wheel for too long.
“In our evaluation, the system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention, but it also couldn’t tell if there was a driver there at all,” Jake Fisher, CR’s senior director of auto testing, said in the report. “Tesla is falling behind other automakers like GM and Ford that, on models with advanced driver assist systems, use technology to make sure the driver is looking at the road.”
Tesla’s Autopilot system is currently facing criticism after a deadly crash in Texas last week. Investigators believe the driver seat was empty at the time of the crash.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted Monday that data logs recovered from the crash show Autopilot was not enabled.
