The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Monday that it would be closing an investigation into Tesla Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) “actually smart summon” self-driving feature.

2.59 Million Vehicles Could’ve Been Affected By Probe

The probe could have affected over 2.59 million Tesla vehicles over a feature that allows the vehicles to navigate parking lots or move short distances while being constantly monitored by owners via a smartphone app, Reuters reported on Monday. NHTSA said the reported incidents involved minor instances of property damage and no injuries or loss of life.

The incidents took place early in the sessions due to poor visibility. NHTSA also maintained that the closing of the investigation did not mean that safety defects did not exist, the report said, but acknowledged that software updates released by Tesla did not warrant further investigation.

Tesla’s FSD Criticism

The technology has been criticized by investor Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki, who has lamented the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system for being only at Level 2 capabilities, according to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

Interestingly, Pat Tsen, the Deputy Executive Director for Consumer Policy, Transportation, and Enforcement at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), also shared the consensus. The agency maintained that the automaker’s ride-hailing service in the state wasn’t classified as a Robotaxi service, due to the FSD system's Level 2 rating.

Elsewhere, Tesla’s FSD technology faces scrutiny from NHTSA, which moved its investigation to Engineering Analysis, a stage that usually precedes a recall, according to laws. The move prompted Gordon Johnson to criticize Tesla’s valuation. “You cannot build a $1.2T [trillion] robotaxi company on software the federal government is one determination away from forcing off the road,” he said.

According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, Tesla offers poor Momentum and satisfactory Growth, but fails to provide a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium and Long term.

Price Action: TSLA fell 4.04.% to $365.85 during Pre-market on Monday.

Image credit: Jefferson Graham-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.