Tesla recalls nearly 363,000 vehicles equipped with "fully autonomous driving"

New York () — Tesla recalled almost 363,000 vehicles in the US equipped with its assistance software known as “Full Self Driving”, or “total autonomous driving” in Spanish, due to security risks. The measure represents another blow to this function that is key to the company’s business model.

“Full Autonomous Driving” (FSD), in its current form, navigates local roads with steering, braking and throttle, but requires a human driver to be ready to take control at any time, whether that the system makes errors of judgement. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that based on its analysis, this feature by Tesla “led to an unreasonable risk to the safety of motor vehicles due to insufficient enforcement of laws.” traffic safety”. And he warned that full autonomous driving could violate traffic laws at some intersections “before some drivers can intervene.”

“The FSD Beta system may allow the vehicle to act in unsafe ways around intersections, such as going straight through an intersection while in a dedicated turn lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding to an intersection during a constant yellow traffic signal without due caution,” read the review notice posted by NHTSA on its website.

Tesla will try to fix the $15,000 “full autonomous driving” feature through an over-the-air software update, the notice added. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has yet to comment on the nature or extent of the problem, tweeted that “the word ‘recall’ for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and simply incorrect.”

The advisory said that the issues are present in all cars with the current version of the FSD software, available on all four Tesla models, Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y.

It also said that Tesla identified 18 incident reports received between May 8, 2019, and September 12, 2022, that may be related to the conditions described above. He said Tesla is not aware of any such incidents causing any injuries or deaths. NHTSA itself identifies at least 273 accidents that involved one of Tesla’s driver assistance systems.

The FSD feature is considered key to the company’s basic business plan, given the premiums drivers pay for this feature.

Musk has repeatedly anticipated that the company would soon build a truly autonomous car, but he has also repeatedly pushed back his own deadlines. Tesla owners filed a class action lawsuit over the predictions and missed deadlines, which is still pending.

“Simply failing to achieve a long-term goal is not fraud,” Tesla’s lawyers wrote in a Nov. 28 court filing, asking that the suit be dismissed.

Musk has said for years that the price of “fully autonomous driving” would increase periodically as it is developed and approaches regulatory approval. In May 2020, tweeted that when the feature did get that approval, it would “probably” be worth more than “$100,000.” But Tesla doesn’t appear to be close to regulatory approval for “fully autonomous driving.” In August 2022, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said the name “fully autonomous driving” is “a deceptive practice” and grounds for suspending or revoking Tesla’s license to sell vehicles. in the state.

NHTSA is also investigating the more rudimentary predecessor of “full self-driving,” the autopilot. That technology combines lane-keeping assist with adaptive cruise control to keep a car in a lane on a freeway, as opposed to the promise of “full autonomous driving,” which Tesla says aims to one day be able to Operate a vehicle without human supervision on the city street.

Tesla, which has disbanded its public relations staff and has not responded to inquiries from the press for several years, could not be reached for comment.

‘s Matt McFarland contributed to this report