Tesla is recalling more than two million of its cars in the United States to fix a fault in its advanced driver-assistance system, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Wednesday.
In a safety report, the NHTSA said the recall involves 2,031,220 cars and covers all four Tesla vehicles—Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y—produced between Oct. 5, 2012, and Dec. 7, 2023.
The recall is the culmination of a two-year probe the NHTSA opened on Aug. 13, 2021, to investigate a series of crashes in which Tesla vehicles operating in autopilot mode had collided with stationary in-road or roadside first responder vehicles tending to pre-existing collision scenes.
In a letter to Tesla describing the issue, the NHTSA said that when Autosteer is engaged in certain circumstances, the “prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse of the SAE [Society of Automotive Engineers] Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature.”
The agency added that when drivers are not fully engaged when operating the vehicle and aren’t prepared to take control when necessary, there “may be an increased risk of a crash.”
U.S. safety regulators said the electric automaker will update all affected vehicles free of charge with an over-the-air software remedy that will increase warnings and alerts to drivers, as well as provide additional checks on drivers using the feature outside controlled-access highways.
“The remedy will incorporate additional controls and alerts to those already existing on affected vehicles to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged, which includes keeping their hands on the steering wheel and paying attention to the roadway,” the NHTSA’s report read.
“Depending on vehicle hardware, the additional controls will include, among others, increasing the prominence of visual alerts on the user interface, simplifying engagement and disengagement of Autosteer, additional checks upon engaging Autosteer and while using the feature outside controlled access highways and when approaching traffic controls, and eventual suspension from Autosteer use if the driver repeatedly fails to demonstrate continuous and sustained driving responsibility while the feature is engaged,” it added.
The update was sent to “certain” affected vehicles on Dec. 12, according to the NHTSA, which noted that remaining cars will receive an update at a later date.
Meanwhile, Tesla did not respond to questions on whether the recall would also be performed outside the United States.
Self-Driving Capability
In a Dec. 12 statement on X, formerly Twitter, the automaker defended the safety of Tesla’s Autopilot, saying safety metrics are “emphatically stronger when Autopilot is engaged than when not engaged.”
The company referred to data that suggested there were fewer crashes when the feature was engaged.
“The data is clear: The more automation technology offered to support the driver, the safer the driver and other road users,” it wrote.
Tesla’s Autopilot is intended to enable cars to steer, accelerate, and brake automatically within their lane, while enhanced autopilot can assist in changing lanes on highways, but does not make them autonomous.
One component of Autopilot is Autosteer, which maintains a set speed or following distance and works to keep vehicles in the correct lane.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg previously voiced concerns over how Tesla markets its technology, pointing out that the name of the software could be misleading.
“I don’t think that something should be called, for example, an Autopilot, when the fine print says you need to have your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road at all times,” Mr. Buttigieg told The Associated Press in May.
The Dec. 13 recall is Tesla’s second recall this year for automated driving features. In February, the company recalled 362,000 U.S. vehicles to update its Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta software after the NHTSA said the vehicles did not adequately adhere to traffic safety laws, and could cause crashes.
The NHTSA’s investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot will remain open as it monitors the efficacy of Tesla’s remedies. Tesla and the NHTSA have held several meetings since mid-October to discuss the agency’s tentative conclusions on potential driver misuse and Tesla’s proposed software remedies in response.
Reuters contributed to this report.
