Feds investigating Tesla’s ‘Mad Max’ mode

Despite U.S. regulators currently investigating Tesla over "Full Self-Driving" traffic violations and safety concerns, Elon Musk's EV company rolled out a new full self-driving (FSD) mode earlier this month, ominously called "Mad Max."

Now, according to a new report from Reuters, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has contacted Tesla to inquire about the newly released "Mad Max" mode. 

"NHTSA is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information," the agency said in a statement. "The human behind the wheel is fully responsible for driving the vehicle and complying with all traffic safety laws."

An NHTSA inquiry would be the first step into a formal investigation of Mad Max mode.

What is Tesla's new Mad Max Mode?

Mad Max is a reference to the film franchise of the same name, which originally starred Mel Gibson but has since been revived with actors such as Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, and Anya Taylor-Joy. In the Mad Max movies, "road warriors" navigate an apocalyptic wasteland, and the movies are famous for their fiery car stunts and chase sequences.

It's an unsettling name for a self-driving car mode, to say the least.

Electrek reported that the Mad Max driver assistance mode allows the vehicle to ignore speed limits and navigate through traffic more quickly.

"Introduced new speed profile MAD MAX, which comes with higher speeds and more frequent lane changes than HURRY," reads the Tesla release notes for the feature, according to Tesla Oracle.

One Tesla owner on X posted a video of their vehicle in Mad Max mode and noted how it is "going to speed like crazy" on an open road. The video also showed the Tesla rolling through a stop sign while in Mad Max mode.

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Another Tesla owner published a YouTube video of their vehicle hitting up to 79 miles per hour in a 50-mile-per-hour zone. They noted that their Tesla was passing all of the other vehicles on the road.

As previously mentioned, Tesla is already being investigated by the NHTSA over vehicles in FSD mode allegedly running red lights and driving the wrong way down roads.

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As the EV news site Electrek points out, Musk teased a version of Mad Max mode back in 2018 when FSD was in its development stage.

"We considered going beyond Mad Max to 'LA Freeway' level, but that’s too loco," Musk said at the time.

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Seven years later, Tesla has decided to publicly release Mad Max mode in the midst of an ongoing safety investigation.