More than 300,000 Tesla EVs are subject to crash risk, says the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). According to the report, there is a problem with the Full Self-driving (FSD) beta software rolled out in Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y.

US authorities have now decided to recall 362758 Tesla EVs. However, the vehicles won’t be actually recalled to a service center instead, the company will roll out a software update that would fix the problem. Authorities said that the over-the-air (OTA) update will happen by April 15. Tesla said that the OTA updates will improve how FSD Beta negotiates certain driving maneuvers and will help to solve the issue.

source: Tesla

NHTSA opened an in-depth investigation on Tesla’s Autopilot system in August 2021. The regulatory authority said that it was a kind of investigation that required a lot of resources, and technical and legal expertise and covered more than 830000 vehicles. The regulatory authority also showed its concern for a December Tweet where CEO Elon Musk agreed to a suggestion of removing the ‘steering wheel nag,” an alert that instructs drivers to hold the wheel to confirm they are paying attention. 

For years US authorities have been imploring Tesla to make better safety features for its EVs. Musk himself had admitted that crashes due to the autopilot system, stem more due to the company’s attitude towards the problem rather than technical difficulties. 

What is the problem with Tesla FSD?

Recently, in a stock Exchange filing, Tesla informed that there were some glitches in its self-driving system. It said that the FSD may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections and may make mistakes while proceeding through steady yellow traffic lights. The EVs also showed some issues when they had to travel straight through an intersection from a turn lane. 

Between May 2019 to September 2022, Tesla received more than 18 warranties some of which may be related to the conditions mentioned above. However, the company said that it was not aware of any incidents or deaths due to this particular self-driving software issue. 

Tesla has not yet made an official statement regarding the recall. However, CEO Elon Musk, shared a tweet showing his contempt for the word recall. 

What is Tesla Autopilot System?

Tesla Autopilot is a bunch of advanced driver-assistance features, offered by the company to its vehicles. The Autopilot system conforms to the Level 2 SAE International Vehicle Automation standards and offers functions like lane centering, self-parking, traffic-aware cruise control, auto lane change, semi-autonomous limited navigation and automatically getting the car from the garage or parking spot. 

All Tesla Vehicles come with these standard driver-assist features. However, the company offers its advanced fully autonomous FSD system for an additional price of $15000. With the FSD in place, owners can get extra features like automatic speeding and slowing down, and making turns which is not available in the standard autopilot system. Currently, Tesla FSD remains a Level 2 advanced-driver assistance system which requires the driver to remain fully engaged while the vehicle is in motion. 

The company is now rolling out FSD Hardware 4.0 which will make Tesla cars the most technologically advanced vehicles in the world. Though the company has not shared many details about FSD 4.0, experts are saying that the upgrades may include a generation 4 complex vehicle control system (Autopilot), a new computer that is going to be 4 times more powerful than the one available in FSD 3 and a new GNSS antenna for navigation. The upgrades may also include changes to the Automatic Dipped and Main Beam Sensor, unification of Model X brake system application, new stay arm for Model X interior rear-view mirror, update to the manufacturer’s engine code, update to the vehicle’s rear badging, an increased speed limit. 

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