Despite not yet having a car capable of Level 3 autonomy like Mercedes or BMW, Tesla has forged a reputation for itself as being at the forefront of driver-assistance tech thanks to the fame (and infamy) of its Autopilot and FSD systems. But that reputation took a knock today with the news that the automaker has been forced to recall 2 million Model S, X, 3, and Y EVs after American safety regulators decided the automaker’s Autopilot tech was open to misuse.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been looking into Autopilot safety for a couple of years, during which time the assistance tech hit the headlines after it was blamed for multiple accidents. Now the NHTSA says that Tesla didn’t do enough to stop drivers placing too much trust in Autopilot, which can accelerate, brake, and steer a car within its lane, and Enhanced Autopilot, which can also handle lane changes.
Neither system makes a Tesla fully autonomous, but the NHTSA ruled that the Autosteer portion of the technology could be misused by some drivers, while others might not be aware that it had disengaged, requiring them to resume manual control of their EV.
“In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse of the SAE Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature,” the recall notice states.
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“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.”
The upshot of the NHTSA’s decision is that Tesla will release an over-air update free of charge that adds extra alerts to ensure drivers stay focused when Autopilot is engaged, and are more aware when it has disengaged.
“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,” says the recall notice’s description of the fix.
It goes on to warn of “eventual suspension from Autosteer use if the driver repeatedly fails to demonstrate continuous and sustained driving responsibility while the feature is engaged.”
Vehicles affected by the recall are the 2012-23 Model S, 2016-23 Model X, 2017-23 Model 3, and 2020-23 Model Y totalling 2,031,220 units. Is your car affected by the recall? Do you think Tesla needed to do more to increase the safety of its Autopilot system? Leave a comment and let us know.