Tesla Recalls Cars Over Self-Driving Software

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Facts

  • Tesla is recalling more than 362K vehicles in the US after regulators said Thursday the Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta software doesn't meet traffic safety standards.1
  • The voluntary recall follows an initial Jan. 25 request from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which listed concerns — without referencing any specific incidents — over the software's efficacy when faced with “stale” yellow lights, stop signs, areas with frequently changing speed limits, and turn-only lanes.2
  • Tesla plans to rectify the situation with a free over-the-air software update of the FSD Beta — which the company has allowed to be tested by thousands of drivers — for all affected vehicles.3
  • Tesla didn't issue an official public statement, but CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to disagree with the use of the term “recall” to describe an over-the-air update, calling it “anachronistic and just flat wrong!”2
  • Tesla owners pay an additional $15k for FSD, which doesn’t make the car self-driving without supervision but includes many automated driving features, including a parking feature and a guidance system that takes the car from on-ramp to off-ramp on a highway.4

Sources: 1Reuters, 2Verge, 3Independent and 4TechCrunch.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Washington Post. The walls keep caving in on Musk and his electric-vehicle company. This is the widest recall yet, and the biggest sign that the technology is not on the path he promised. Combine this with the ongoing Justice Department investigation of the company and the major hit its stock took in 2022, and it all adds up to a world of headaches for Musk, who also has to navigate being the new CEO of Twitter.
  • Narrative B, as provided by CNBC. Regulators are exaggerating this issue by calling it a recall when it's actually a software update. Tesla has been responsive to the NHTSA recommendations and can easily fix the issue. As the name FSD Beta suggests, the system is still being tested, and eventually, the testing will lead to fully autonomous vehicles.