Tesla Recalls Nearly Every Car Made As Feds Explore Autopilot System

Today probably isn’t a very happy day around the Tesla offices. The automaker has recalled nearly every car it has built because of a major flaw with its Autopilot system. This is a story I have been covering for more than six years, both here on Torque News and in other online venues.

An Ongoing Issue For Years

Since about 2016, every time there was a significant update to Tesla’s Autopilot suite of vehicle control software, it has been proclaimed to be perfect. In the meantime, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has opened a probe of the fatalities caused when drivers attempted to use the advertised – as autopilot-type device as you find in airplanes where the plane flies itself once you have set the autopilot.

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With Tesla, though, it is a different story. The country’s auto safety agency has found that Tesla’s “driver-assistance system Autopilot doesn’t do enough to prevent misuse,” said Automotive News today. Because of this, the automaker recalled more than two million vehicles – practically the automaker’s entire output.

The recall “spans all Tesla models … vehicles equipped with all versions of Autosteer, a hands-on-the-wheel beta feature that detects lane marking, other vehicles, and objects to help the driver steer in certain situations,” said the trade paper.

The vehicles included in this recall are:

• 2012-2023 Model S Teslas
• 2016-2023 Model X Teslas
• 2017-2023 Model 3 Teslas
• 2020-2023 Model Y Teslas

NHTSA Report Quoted

Quoting a report made public today, Automotive News stated, "In certain circumstances, when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse of the SAE Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature.”

Tesla’s fix for this problem will be the usual. Every time this feature has been challenged, the automaker says it will release an over-the-air software update. This time, they informed the safety agency that they would do their usual over-the-air update to correct the issue. “The update will add more controls and alerts to encourage the driver to remain engaged in the driving task, including keeping their hands on the steering wheel and paying attention to the road.”

According to the report quoted in Automotive News, “drivers could be suspended from Autosteer use if they repeatedly failed “’ to demonstrate continuous and sustained driving responsibility while the features are engaged.’”

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Tesla has received nine warranty claims relating to this issue, according to Automotive News (AN).

Years-Long Defect Probe

Tesla’s recall is “the result of a years-long defect investigation by the NHTSA that will remain open as the agency monitors the efficacy of Tesla’s fixes. A NHTSA spokesperson said the probe found that Tesla’s means for keeping drivers engaged were inadequate and could lead to ‘foreseeable misuse,’” the agency told the trade paper.

The agency spokesperson noted that “specifically, the investigation found that Teslas' unique design of its Autopilot system can provide inadequate driver engagement and usage controls.”

The agency continued, "Automated technology holds great promise for improving safety, but only when it is deployed responsibly. Today’s action is an example of improving automated systems by prioritizing safety.”

The NHTSA action follows a series of meetings held between October and this month. In the meetings, the automaker and the agency discussed tentative conclusions regarding its “upgraded investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot. The meetings were related to the ‘issue of potential driver misuse when Autosteer is engaged, expectations to address the agency’s concerns through a voluntary recall,’ and Tesla’s proposed software fix, according to the recall report.”

Recalled 2 Million Vehicles

While not agreeing with the agency’s findings, Tesla recalled the two million vehicles in the “hope of resolving the investigation.”

This is the second probe that involves the automaker’s driver-assistance systems. These systems have “come under escalating scrutiny after hundreds of crashes,” some of which involved fatalities.

AN and other observers, including Torque News, noted that Tesla has long promised complete vehicle autonomy. However, that autonomy will occur as long as “a fully attentive driver” keeps hands on the steering wheel. Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, has long promised that the automaker was about to “offer completed driving autonomy.” But Tesla hasn’t.

Every Tesla offers the Autopilot car control software suite. The software relies on cameras that help Tesla vehicles match their speed with surrounding traffic. They also are supposed to help drives maintain position within “clearly marked lanes.”

Full Self-Driving Software

As AN notes, the automaker “has marketed higher-level functionality that it calls Full Self-Driving since late 2016. That suite of features was recalled in February, after NHTSA raised concerns about cars using the system traveling in unlawful or unpredictable ways, including exceeding speed limits, traveling straight through intersections in turn-only lanes, and not coming to complete stops.”

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NHTSA, which conducted the first defect probe of the Autopilot system in 2016 following a fatality in 2016, gave the system a clean bill of health in early 2017. There are now two “pending probes – initiated in August 2021 and February 2022 – began after Teslas crashed into first-responder vehicles and suddenly braked in traffic.

NHTSA has opened “more than 50 special crash investigations involving Tesla cars suspected to be linked to Autopilot.” And now Tesla's problems with regulators have “beyond NHTSA.” The company has disclosed it has received requests for documents from the “Justice Department related to Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software.” Bloomberg is “also reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission was “investigating Musk’s role in shaping the company’s self-driving claims,” the trade paper concluded.

Marc Stern has been an automotive writer since 1971. His automotive articles have appeared in venues including Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, and others. You can follow Marc on Twitter or Facebook. I normally cover Ford cars and trucks, however, I have also been following major recalls such as this one or the largest safety recall in history relating