Tesla's electric vehicle fleet is facing a massive recall, affecting over 2 million vehicles sold in the U.S. since 2012. This includes models from the Model S, 3, X, and Y series. The reason behind this recall is an investigation conducted by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over concerns about Tesla's Autosteer function, an advanced driver assistance feature.
The NHTSA initiated the investigation following several accidents involving Tesla vehicles with activated autopilot, colliding with emergency vehicles parked on the side of the road with their hazard lights on. The investigation revealed that Tesla's existing safety measures, such as steering wheel motion sensors and a camera in newer models, were inadequate.
As a result, Tesla is implementing an update to address these issues. The update includes enhanced controls and alerts to ensure drivers maintain continuous driving responsibility. Visuals alerts will be more prominent on the user interface, and there will be a new feature called 'Single-Pull Autosteer' for easier engagement and disengagement. Additionally, the update includes additional checks during Autosteer engagement and may limit its use in certain situations.
Despite the recall, Tesla continues its innovation with plans to release a new entry-level model in Grünheide. However, the constant recalls have raised concerns about the reliability of Tesla's vehicles, particularly in relation to their autonomous driving features.
As for the improvements Tesla is making to its Autosteer function, they include:
- Enhanced Controls and Alerts: To ensure that drivers maintain continuous driving responsibility, alerts are made more prominent and controls are enhanced.
- Visual Alert Prominence: Visuals alerts on the user interface are made more prominent to improve driver awareness and compliance.
- Simplified Autosteer Engagement: This new feature makes the engagement and disengagement of Autosteer more intuitive.
- Enhanced Checks and Limiting Use: The update includes additional checks during Autosteer engagement, especially when driving outside controlled access highways and approaching traffic controls.
- Suspension for Autopilot: Drivers who repeatedly fail to adhere to continuous driving responsibility may face temporary suspension from using the Autosteer feature.
These changes aim to address issues related to driver misuse and ensure that drivers maintain continuous and sustained responsibility for vehicle operation.
