Tesla, a company owned by Billionaire Elon Musk and the leading electric vehicle manufacturer globally, has recalled more than two million vehicles in the U.S.
The recall was prompted by pressure from regulators, and an estimate of 2,031,220 cars will be affected.
According to US Department of Transportation, the recall of Tesla on US roads is to limit the use of its Autopilot feature after a two-year investigation.
“Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling 2012-2023 Model S, 2016-2023 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles equipped with all versions of Autosteer leading up to the version(s) that contains the recall remedy,” read part of the statement.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) noted that roughly 1,000 crashes had occurred since the autopilot feature was rolled out.
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“Be advised that as part of the investigation conducted by NHTSA (EA22-002), NHTSA reviewed 956 crashes where Autopilot was initially alleged to have been in use.”
“Then focused on a narrower set of 322 Autopilot-involved crashes, including frontal impacts and impacts from potential inadvertent disengagement of the system,” the Regulator explained.
Tesla False Sense of Security
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Autopilot system can provide drivers with a false sense of security and can be readily abused in certain risky situations where Tesla’s technology may be unable to properly navigate the road.
“In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, and the driver does not maintain responsibility for vehicle operation and is unprepared to intervene as necessary or fails to recognize when Autosteer is canceled or not engaged, there may be an increased risk of a crash,” NTHSA added.
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Notably, Autopilot is meant to help with steering, acceleration and braking but, the car still requires driver input.
The limitations on Autopilot serve as a blow to Tesla’s efforts to market its vehicles to buyers willing to pay extra to have their cars do the driving for them.
Tesla said it would send a software update “over the air” to fix the issue.
“Tesla will release an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge,” read the statement in part.
Nonetheless, the over-the-air software update is set to give Tesla drivers more warnings when they are not paying attention to the road while the Autopilot’s “Autosteer” function is turned on.
Tesla’s software is supposed to make sure that drivers are paying attention and that the feature is only in use in appropriate conditions, such as driving on highways.
