After two years of investigation into the behavior of the FSD autonomous driving software involving several accidents in the USA, 362,758 vehicles were finally “recalled”. That is to say that they will be the subject of a special update of their software.
The American electric car manufacturer Tesla was forced to recall no less than 362,758 vehicles. The source of this major recall was an investigation by the US Highway Safety Agency (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA) on its famous autonomous driving technology. Once called “Autopilot,” Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) is indeed the target of authority.
Read also : Tesla: we already know everything about the HW4, the manufacturer’s lethal weapon for autonomous driving (February 2016)
More specifically, the agency points out that this system, whose deployment is very different in Europe where it is much more restrained, represents a risk ” exceeding maximum speeds or crossing in an illegal or unpredictable manner that may increase the risk of an accident “. If Tesla is a favorite brand of some users, that did not prevent the NHTSA from embarking on a major investigation to determine which elements were really at fault. Something that didn’t happen overnight.
A long soap opera
Tesla is learning that NHTSA is tough. Because this FSD story begins last August 2021. After several routine investigations into emblematic accidents from the beginnings of this semi-autonomous driving – a car which is attracted by fire engines, another which seems to have self-destructive behavior – the NHTSA has mounted a larger investigation. In the line of sight, 11 collisions where the behavior of the Tesla software seems to have caused accidents.
Almost a year later, in June 2022, the American agency went up a notch. And suspended 830,000 from a recall, explaining at the time that he wanted to determine ” the extent to which Autopilot or other Tesla driver assistance systems may exacerbate human risk or the behavior of their drivers by compromising the effectiveness of driver supervision “.
Read also : Tesla buries one of the main promises of its Autopilot, an option at 7,500 euros (January 2023)
It is the stage between June 2022 and today that has required the most resources. A commotion of almost nine months which mobilized all the forces of the NHTSA. ” We invest a lot of resources “, the agency confided last January to Reuters. ” The resources require a lot of technical expertise, involve legal novelties and although we are going as fast as possible, above all we want to be careful and be sure that we have all the information we need. “, explained the head of the entity last month.
A recall less heavy than expected
Initially pointing to a potential recall fleet of 830,000 vehicles, it is ultimately very precisely 362,758 vehicles that are affected by this recall. In the lot, there are Model S from 2016 to 2023, Model X, Model 3 from 2017 to 2023 and Model Y from 2020 to 2023. All equipped with a beta version of the FSD software… Which is never considered as final. And who might not keep all his promises.
Read also : Tesla wants to launch its car insurance in Europe, its price depends on your driving (February 2023)
Due to a software fault, this recall operation nevertheless remains benign in form compared to a hardware deficiency. The only thing owners of these cars have to do is wait for a free update that will be pushed automatically via mobile download (OTA or Over The Air). Tesla should indeed deploy a security update of this key software to overcome the deficiencies pointed out by the administration.
Although the types of FSD are very different between Europe and the USA where more autonomous driving is legal, if you are a Tesla owner, you can go on this web page and enter the VIN code uniqueness of your vehicle to check if it is affected by this campaign.
Engadget
