The National Highway Safety Administration said it had concerns about how Tesla handled the recall based on recent crashes and testing of cars that had been updated.
A federal auto safety agency said the accelerator pedal on the pickup truck, sales of which began in late 2023, could become stuck, increasing the risk of accidents.
A Tesla driver’s family had sought damages for the 2018 crash, which happened while the carmaker’s driver-assistance software was in use.
The vehicles were recalled because the font size on a warning lights panel was too small. Tesla will address the issue with a software update.
Federal regulators said the automaker had not done enough to make sure that drivers were paying attention while using Autopilot.
Under pressure from federal regulators, the company has agreed to recall two million cars to update its driver-assistance system. The cars will be updated over cellular networks.
An employee who was fired after expressing safety concerns leaked personnel records and sensitive data about driver-assistance software.
A federal auto safety agency said the technology can cause crashes, but said the company was unaware of any deaths or injuries caused by the flaws.
Missy Cummings, who spent more than a year at the federal auto safety agency, said that drivers were putting too much trust in systems like Tesla’s Autopilot and that regulators needed to restrict their use.
A regulatory filing says officials have asked about software that Elon Musk, the chief executive, has said would allow cars to operate autonomously.