Tesla is facing a new wrongful death lawsuit in Texas after a crash that allegedly involved the company's Autopilot system left a 76-year-old grandmother dead inside her family's home.

The main federal auto safety agency said on Monday that it was investigating a Tesla crash that killed a woman in Katy, Texas, near Houston, on Friday night.

Such investigations often cover emerging technology in vehicles in order for the agency to gather data on crashes that can then be used to improve safety performance in autos more widely.