Tesla has announced a recall of slightly over 2 million vehicles in the United States equipped with its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system to implement new safety measures, following concerns raised by a federal safety regulator regarding the system's safety implications.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been conducting an investigation into the electric automaker led by billionaire Elon Musk for over two years, focusing on whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure that drivers remain attentive when using Autopilot. This recall, the largest in Tesla's history, appears to encompass nearly all of its vehicles on U.S. roads.
In a recall filing, Tesla stated that the software system controls of Autopilot "may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse," potentially increasing the risk of a crash. Acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson, speaking at a U.S. House hearing, commended Tesla for agreeing to the Autopilot recall, emphasizing the need for drivers to remain attentive when the system is engaged.
Shares of Tesla, the world's most valuable automaker, experienced a 3% decline to $230.09 on Wednesday.
Tesla's Autopilot is designed to enable cars to steer, accelerate, and brake automatically within their lane, while enhanced Autopilot can assist in changing lanes on highways but does not make the vehicles autonomous.
One component of Autopilot is Autosteer, which maintains a set speed or following distance and works to keep a vehicle in its driving lane.
Tesla expressed disagreement with NHTSA's analysis but committed to deploying an over-the-air software update that will incorporate additional controls and alerts to further encourage drivers to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged.
The company did not provide details on whether the recall would extend beyond the United States or offer specific information about the new safeguards. It remains unclear if China will demand a recall over the same issue. Regulators in Germany stated that they are investigating the matter, while a spokesperson for the Italian Transport Ministry indicated no knowledge of similar actions being taken in Italy.
NHTSA initiated a probe of Autopilot in August 2021 after identifying over a dozen crashes involving Tesla vehicles colliding with stationary emergency vehicles, and upgraded it in June 2022. The agency found that "Tesla's unique design of its Autopilot system can provide inadequate driver engagement and usage controls that can lead to foreseeable misuse of the system."
Bryant Walker Smith, a transportation issues expert, expressed that the software-only fix may place excessive responsibility on human drivers instead of addressing system facilitation of misuse.
NHTSA highlighted the increased risk of a crash when the system is engaged, but the driver fails to maintain responsibility for vehicle operation or is unprepared to intervene or recognize when the system is canceled.
The investigation into Autopilot will remain open as NHTSA monitors the efficacy of Tesla’s remedies.
The update, based on vehicle hardware, will include increasing the prominence of visual alerts on the user interface, simplifying engagement and disengagement of Autosteer, and additional checks upon engaging Autosteer.
In October, Tesla disclosed that the U.S. Justice Department had issued subpoenas related to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) and Autopilot systems. Additionally, Tesla was under criminal investigation over claims that its electric vehicles could drive themselves.
In February, Tesla recalled 362,000 U.S. vehicles to update its FSD Beta software after NHTSA stated that the vehicles did not adequately adhere to traffic safety laws and could cause crashes.
NHTSA closed an earlier investigation into Autopilot in 2017 without taking any action. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has criticized Tesla for a lack of system safeguards for Autopilot, and NHTSA for a failure to ensure the safety of Autopilot.
Democratic U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky remarked, "it's past time to rein in Tesla’s hazardous advanced driving systems" and commended NHTSA for taking "action to protect all road users from misuse of these systems."