Blow to Tesla. Elon Musk’s company is forced to update 362,758 vehicles equipped with Full Self Driving technology. The manufacturer’s software would experience a problem in certain situations that would endanger the safety of passengers and other road users.
A seamless update
The autonomous driving system would act as “dangerous way at intersections”explains the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US auto regulator in a notice published on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
The software can, for example, drive the vehicle straight while an indication prohibits it. Full Self Driving also tends to run out of stops or even turn orange on fire. Additionally, the system can also “reacting insufficiently to changes in posted speed limits” or disregard the speed set by the driver, and in some cases exceed the speed limit.
“FSD Beta, which allows a vehicle to exceed speed limits or cross intersections illegally or unpredictably, increases the risk of a crash”, judges the regulator. To fix these multiple bugs, Tesla is currently rolling out a new version of its software through the network. Drivers therefore do not need to go to the dealership. In detail, the problem would concern Model 3 from 2017 to 2023, Model S from 2016 to 2023, Model X from 2016 to 2023 and Model Y from 2020 to 2023.
18 incident reports
In its advisory, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it received 18 incident reports between May 8, 2019 and September 12, 2022, possibly related to the issues described in recent days. For the time being, Tesla has not commented on the file publicly. For his part, Elon Musk wonders about the use of the word recall, used by the administration of the United States. “The word ‘reminder’ for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just plain wrong!”he exasperated on Twitter.
The Full Self Driving autonomous driving system is Tesla’s signature technology. For $15,000, the software allows semi-automatic piloting of the vehicle in situations that allow it. Across the Atlantic, several accidents possibly involving technology are being assessed. Tesla regularly recalls that its program saves many lives each year by avoiding crashes. For their part, investors seem again disappointed by the North American manufacturer. Within hours, Tesla stock fell 5.69%.