Tesla Under Criminal Investigation Over Self-Driving Car Claims: Report

Tesla is reportedly under criminal investigation in relation to claims that its electric vehicles can drive themselves, three sources with knowledge of the situation told NBC News on Wednesday (October 27) night.

A previously undisclosed U.S. Department of Justice probe was launched last year after more than a dozen Tesla vehicles were reported to have crashed while using the company's driver assistance system Autopilot, which included multiple fatal incidents, the sources confirmed.

The Autopilot system, which Tesla has claimed allows for a self-driving vehicle, was reported to be activated during the accidents.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had publicly stated that Autopilot was "probably better" than a human driver during a 2016 conference call and recently claimed that the company would soon release an upgraded "Full Self-Driving software capable of allowing Tesla owners to travel “to your work, your friend’s house, to the grocery store without you touching the wheel," NBC News reports.

A video shared on Tesla's website promoting Autopilot states: “The person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.”

The company has, however, warned consumers that their hands must be on the wheel at all times to maintain control while the driver assistance system is in use.

Tesla's website states that its Autopilot system is designed to assist with steering, braking, speed and lane changes, but doesn't "make the vehicle autonomous," which may complicate a potential case brought on by the Justice Department, according to the sources.