Tesla recalled hundreds of thousands of cars equipped with the Full Self-Driving Beta technology, which allows the vehicles to function on autopilot while navigating through traffic signals and regulating speed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that the recall affected over 360,000 Tesla vehicles — almost an entirety of the Full Self-Driving cars sold in North America at a $15,000 upcharge, as Inside Evs reported.
The recall applies to “2016-2023 Model S, Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles.”
The reason behind the recall? The NHTSA said that the Tesla technology “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.”
Although the Full Self-Driving feature requires the driver to pay attention, the system does “not adequately account for the driver’s adjustment of the vehicle’s speed to exceed posted speed limits.” The NHTSA said that the automaker will now release a free software update while vehicle owners will be notified via mail by mid-April.
Tesla hasn’t made a comment on the recall but CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to say, “The word ‘recall’ for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just flat wrong!”
According to CNBC, Tesla’s shares fell more than 1% after the news broke but recovery was speedy.