Preliminary Evaluation

What It Means

A Preliminary Evaluation (PE) is the formal opening stage of a NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) inquiry, designated with a case identifier in the format PEYY-NNN (for example, PE23-041). When the PE is opened, NHTSA publishes a "Resume" document summarizing the alleged defect, the population of vehicles potentially affected, the number of complaints, crashes, injuries, and deaths reported to date, and a list of the information ODI has requested from the manufacturer. Manufacturers typically have 30 to 60 days to respond to the PE information request letter under 49 U.S.C. 30166, and failure to respond completely can result in civil penalties. PEs last on average 4 to 6 months, though some complex cases, particularly those involving advanced driver assistance systems, battery fires, or software-driven defects, can extend longer. At the conclusion of the PE, ODI engineers make one of three decisions: close the PE with no further action (about 50 percent of cases), upgrade to Engineering Analysis (about 35 percent), or close because the manufacturer has already issued a voluntary recall addressing the concern (about 15 percent). RecallCheck displays every active PE affecting a make/model/year on the vehicle page, because an open PE, even before a recall has been issued, is a meaningful safety signal that NHTSA engineers have seen enough complaints and crashes to warrant formal investigation. Examples of PEs that escalated to major recalls include PE10-031 (Jeep Grand Cherokee rear-impact fuel tank fires, escalated to EA and eventually a voluntary recall covering 1.56 million vehicles), and ongoing PEs into Tesla Autopilot crashes that have now covered more than 800,000 vehicles since 2021.

Frequently Asked Questions