Tesla boss Elon Musk said the electric car maker has no plans to disable its Autopilot feature in the wake of a fatal accident in which the driver of a Model S car was using the technology.

Instead, the company is planning an 'explanatory blog post' to educate customers on how the feature works.

'A lot of people don't understand what it is and how you turn it on,' Musk told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

Elon Musk told the Wall Street Journal he had pushed hard to launch the Autopilot feature as soon as possible because 'we knew we had a system that on balance would save lives.'

MUSK'S TWITTER SPAT Head of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, has taken to Twitter to slam reporters who claimed the firm delayed making details of a fatal crash public. Musk has called the reports, published by Fortune Magazine last week, 'BS' and 'fundamentally incorrect'. However, the publication has said it stands by its reporting. Advertisement

He said he had pushed hard to launch the Autopilot feature as soon as possible because 'we knew we had a system that on balance would save lives.'

The company came under regulators' scrutiny after a fatal car crash on May 7 that killed a Model S car owner who was operating it in autopilot mode.

In a recent move, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent the company a letter, seeking details of all design changes and updates to Autopilot since it went into use last year.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also launched an investigation into whether Tesla Motors waited too long to disclose a fatal crash in May that called into question the safety of the auto-pilot system, which takes control of steering and braking.

Tesla's auto-pilot system also allegedly caused a crash that 'destroyed' a Model X car after it suddenly swerved off a road at 60mph and hit some wooden guard rail posts.

The crash happened on Saturday night in Montana, with the driver's friend claiming that the autopilot steered the car off the road after it hit a wooden stake on the road.

It comes as Musk has spoken out against recent reports of a fatal Tesla crash, calling the reporting 'BS' and 'fundamentally incorrect' as his company's share prices have plummeted.

The billionaire entrepreneur and founder of Tesla took to Twitter to counter claims made by Fortune Magazine, which criticised Musk's firm for taking so long to publicly disclose the crash.

Tesla's auto-pilot system allegedly caused a crash that 'destroyed' a Model X car (pictured) after it suddenly swerved off a road at 60mph and hit some wooden guard rail posts

The car firm has faced criticism for allegedly not disclosing to investors details of the crash in May, in which 40-year-old driver Joshua Brown died while using the autopilot feature on his Model S.

In the article published by Fortune last week, Carol Loomis reported a Tesla executive said the crash 'was not a material fact'.

The argument centres around the timings of a filing to the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) and the sale of more than $2bn in Tesla stock on 18 May, at a time in which the full details of the crash were not publicly available.

Tesla's stock prices dipped temporarily after the event was made public, with shares dropping by $10 for a period before bouncing back.

Tesla's Elon Musk (pictured) has lashed out at 'BS reports' about the fatal accident involving one of its Model S electric vehicles. The car firm has faced criticism for allegedly not disclosing to investors details of the crash in May, in which 40-year-old driver Joshua Brown died while using the autopilot feature on his Model S

However, Tesla confirmed that immediately following the crash, it notified the relevant US investigatory body - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Countering the claims made by Fortune, Tesla released a response to the article, in which it stated: 'Fortune entirely ignores what Tesla knew and when, nor have they even asked the questions.

'Instead, they simply assume that Tesla had complete information from the moment this accident occurred.

@alansmurray Yes, it was material to you -- BS article increased your advertising revenue. Just wasn't material to TSLA, as shown by market. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2016

'This was a physical impossibility given that the damage sustained by the Model S in the crash limited Tesla's ability to recover data from it remotely.'

The argument has moved to a very public Twitter spat between Mr Musk and editor of Fortune magazine, Alan Murray.

In a tweet, Mr Murray said 'seems pretty material to me'. Mr Musk countered, claiming the 'BS article increased [Fortune's] advertising revenue'.

Model S had the lowest probability of injury of any car ever tested by NHTSA, which is why ... https://t.co/9tZZJEc5wg — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2016

Citing its safety record, Tesla claims its autopilot feature has racked up more than 100 million of driving by Tesla customers worldwide.

The statement, which was sent to Fortune, goes on to explain the context of the 'material' impact.

It said: 'Given the fact that the 'better-than-human' threshold had been crossed and robustly validated internally, news of a statistical inevitability did not materially change any statements previously made about the Autopilot system, its capabilities, or net impact on roadway safety.'

@disinformatico @Eddy_Jahn In other words, the intended implication is that a driver must remain alert, just as a pilot must remain alert. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2016

The car firm also insists the writers made 'false assumptions' and clarified that the fatal crash was the result of dangerous driving from another motorist and not caused by the autopilot feature.

In a follow up statement released by Fortune last week, the publication said it 'stands by its reporting'.