NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report are down 2% to $209.70 in pre-market trading Wednesday as the company told regulators about a fatality involving one of its electric cars in partial self-driving "Autopilot" mode nine days after it crashed, Reuters reports.

The Palo Alto, CA-based company also defended its decision not to announce the accident publicly before a federal investigation was announced.

Tesla found out about the Florida crash of the Model S sedan "shortly" after the May 7 accident. On May 16 the company disclosed the accident to the government, Reuters said.

On June 30, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an investigation.

Autopilot is one of Tesla's most advanced and promoted technologies, and is still in test mode.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Sell" rating with a score of D+ on the stock.

The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally high debt management risk, disappointing return on equity, weak operating cash flow and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: TSLA

Image placeholder title