The National Highway Traffic Safety administration has launched a new review of Tesla’s Autopilot system, signaling that it has concerns the automaker did not do enough to remedy the regulator’s concerns for driver safety with its recall of 2 million cars equipped with the system in December.

In a memo dated Thursday, the agency said it was opening what’s known as a “recall query” and that it had “identified concerns due to post-remedy crash events and results from preliminary NHTSA tests of remedied vehicles.”

Tesla agreed to the recall following a string of deadly crashes and a two-year investigation by NHTSA into whether Autopilot had enough safeguards to keep drivers alert while Autopilot is engaged. In its December recall notice to consumers, the agency said it found that Autopilot’s key Autosteer feature “may not” have sufficient controls to “prevent driver misuse,” such as using the feature outside the controlled-access highways for which it was designed.

Tesla disputed the agency’s criticisms but said it solved the issue with software updates that added alerts to remind drivers to pay attention while using the automated driving system. The company did not limit where the system could operate, which experts at the time said would have been a better fix.

At least one fatal accident has involved a Tesla using autopilot on a road with cross traffic, for which the car manual says it is not designed.

NHTSA’s new action comes after testing the cars at its facility in Ohio. The agency memo said that parts of the fix issued by Tesla required drivers to opt in and could be easily reversed. NHTSA also said it had questions about other more recent changes Tesla has made to Autopilot that appeared to be linked to regulators’ concerns.

It showcases the intense scrutiny Tesla is under from federal regulators, which reviewed more than 900 crashes involving Autopilot as part of its investigation.

It also underscores NHTSA’s limited authority. It can investigate safety problems and order recalls, but it can’t tell vehicle manufacturers how to fix the issues investigators uncover.

NHTSA said it kept the investigation into Autopilot open even after the recall.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new review early Friday.

The agency’s new action comes on the heels of a grim earnings report this week, where Tesla reported a steeper-than-expected 55 percent plunge in profit amid lagging sales and increased competition. CEO Elon Musk has staked the company’s future on autonomous driving, recently promising to unveil a fully self-driving robotaxi in August.

At the same time, the company faces a string of lawsuits that allege Tesla exaggerated the true capabilities of its Autopilot technology and created a false sense of complacency for drivers who died or were seriously injured in crashes.

In court documents, the company maintains it is not liable for the crashes because it repeatedly warns drivers to remain in control of the vehicle.

December’s recall came after a Post investigation identified at least eight fatal or serious crashes on roads where Autopilot was not designed to be used.

The National Transportation Safety Board and others have asked federal regulators to force the company to limit the technology only to where it is designed to be used. NHTSA has rejected that approach as too complex and resource intensive.

This story will be updated.

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