The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a sweeping recall affecting nearly every Tesla sold in the US due to safety flaws within the vehicles’ Autopilot systems. About two million vehicles will receive over-the-air software updates in the coming days to address the company’s latest setback in its ongoing “Full Self-Driving” project.
According to the federal authority’s December 12 announcement, the electric vehicle company’s flagship, increasingly criticized “driver-assistance feature” reportedly fails to properly ensure drivers remain attentive and in control of their EVs. Because of this, the NHTSA determined “in certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse.” As a result, Tesla vehicles with the outdated Autopilot system enabled could fail to properly guard against potential accidents.
[Related: Tesla is under federal investigation over autopilot claims.]
The update will apply to all Model X, Model S, Model 3, and Model Y cars manufactured between October 5, 2012, and December 7, 2023. Once installed, the latest Autorsteer version will reportedly “further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility” via additional controls and alerts, as well as limit where the feature can be activated.
The sweeping recall is the latest blow to Tesla’s long standing promise to soon offer customers a suite of fully autonomous vehicles. The Full Self-Driving program has faced years of pushback from vehicle safety regulators and industry critics over its safety record, efficacy, and overall capabilities. Prior to this week’s recall, Autopilot was advertised as a “hands-on driver assistance system” intended only for use while operators maintained constant attention on the road.
“It does not turn a Tesla into a self-driving car nor does it make a car…
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