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Tesla is Recalling Thousands of its Self-Driving Vehicles, See Why

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By Judy Perkins - - 5 Mins Read
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It has just been reported that 362,758 vehicles equipped with Tesla's experimental driver-assistance software have been recalled voluntarily by the company after warnings from experts. Tesla's self-driving car technology is known as Full Self-Driving Beta or FSD Beta, and a recall notice was issued after some challenges were detected. 

According to the recall notice that the NHTSA issued on the 15th of February, the Full Self-Driving Beta or FSD Beta issued may "allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution. In addition, the system may respond insufficiently to changes in posted speed limits or not adequately account for the driver's adjustment of the vehicle's speed to exceed posted speed limits."

However, they immediately prescribed a solution to the issue, saying Tesla would have to send an over-the-air software update to cars to address the new development. The notice from NHTSA read," Tesla will release an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge.  Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed by April 15, 2023.  Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752.  Tesla's number for this recall is SB-23-00-001."

A good number of Tesla cars were affected by the Full Self-Driving Beta or FSD Beta recall. The Tesla self-driving car update was recalled for the 2016-2023 Model S and Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles. 

Elon Musk And Fans Fumes on the word "Recall" 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (BI)

Shortly after the NHTSA gave out the recall notice, Elon Musk and his Tesla fans said that the word "recall" should not be used for the situation. According to Elon Musk and other Tesla sympathizers, "recall" should not be used to describe safety defects that the company could fix with a software update delivered over wireless internet. 

Yesterday, Elon Musk tweeted," The word ‘recall’ for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just flat wrong!" 

Tesla allowed thousands of drivers who subscribed to the Full Self-Driving Beta to use and test the technology on the road. But despite its name, it does not fully drive itself as it still requires a human driver to be in the seat and control certain features when the FSD Beta is on. Because of risks such as this, the NHTSA put out the recall notice. 

According to Tesla, only those with the company’s premium FSD driver assistance system can use the released FSD Beta. Drivers who want to use the FSD Beta have to subscribe to it by paying about $15,000 upfront or $199 per month if they are staying in the United States. 

NHTSA recall notes say that the Tesla FSD Beta still needs to be well-developed before it is allowed to be used on the road without a driver behind the wheel. 

The NHTSA safety recall report notes, "SAE level 2 driver support feature that can provide steering and braking/acceleration support to the driver under certain operating limitations."

"The driver is responsible for operation of the vehicle whenever the feature is engaged and must constantly supervise the feature and intervene (e.g., steer, brake or accelerate) as needed to maintain safe operation of the vehicle," the note added.

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