It is a procedure of magnitude, because of danger. Tesla on Thursday recalled 362,758 cars after identifying malfunctions in its driver assistance software that can cause the vehicle to act in potentially dangerous ways at intersections. Investors reacted badly to this notice published Thursday by the American Highway Safety Agency (NHTSA), and the title of the manufacturer of electric vehicles fell 5.69% during the session.
The recall concerns all models in the range, S, X, Y and model 3 (the best-selling electric car in France in 2021) equipped with FSD (Full Self-Driving) software or intended to receive it, but on different manufacturing periods, some dating back to 2016. The FSD, which is in the testing phase, is so-called level 2 software, which is more about driving assistance than autonomous driving.
According to the advisory issued by the United States Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA), software defects, when activated, may cause the vehicle to continue straight when pulled into a lane that theoretically requires turning. A car with the FSD software engaged can also cross an intersection with “stop” signs without observing a complete stop, or pass a crossroads with fixed amber lights without slowing down.
Return your vehicle to a Tesla checkpoint
Affected vehicles may also “fail to react sufficiently to signaled changes in speed limits” or fail to intervene when a driver exceeds the maximum permitted speed, according to the agency. To remedy these defects, Tesla plans to proceed with a software update, at its expense, it is indicated in the notice. This recall does not require you to return your vehicle to a Tesla checkpoint.
” The term rappel to qualify a software update is anachronistic and simply wrong,” Elon Musk tweeted, reacting to the announcement. In June 2022, the NHTSA published a report stating that Teslas equipped with driver assistance software, active at some time during the previous 30 seconds, had been involved in 273 road accidents in the States. -United.
The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Tesla’s driver assistance systems, according to a document published in late January by the stock market regulator, the SEC. In the document, Tesla recalled that the FSD and the other software, known as “Autopilot”, were “designed to be used by an alert driver whose hands are on the wheel and who is ready to regain control at any time”. .
But for several years, the manufacturer’s boss, Elon Musk, has regularly gone much further in his statements. From 2019, he thus promised the commissioning, within the year, of a vehicle capable of ensuring completely autonomous driving, without any intervention from a passenger. No vehicle in the range is currently equipped with such software. In an interview with the CNBC channel in October 2021, the boss of the American Agency responsible for investigating transport accidents (NTSB), Jennifer Homendy, had described as “misleading” the use of the term “fully autonomous driving”. “.