Two million Teslas recalled in the US over 'insufficient' Autopilot

Around two million Teslas - including the Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y - are being recalled in the US after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded the firm’s divisive Autopilot feature was “insufficient to prevent misuse". Oh dear.

It follows a two-year investigation into nearly 1,000 crashes involving Tesla vehicles, and is the second recall this year after the firm was forced to make changes to its Full Self-Driving software.

This week Tesla has defended its systems in a lengthy post on X (RIP Twitter), largely in response to an article written by the Washington Post. Elon Musk’s company has agreed to issue an over-the-air update to address the NHTSA’s concerns.

“In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, and the driver does not maintain responsibility for vehicle operation and is unprepared to intervene as necessary or fails to recognize when Autosteer is canceled or not engaged, there may be an increased risk of a crash,” read the recall notice on the organisation’s website.

“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.”

Meanwhile Tesla claims that its data from the final quarter of 2022 shows one crash for every 4.85 million miles driven with Autopilot engaged, compared to 1.4 million miles without it.

Tesla said: “The data is clear: the more automation technology offered to support the driver, the safer the driver and other road users.”

While there are many articles that do not accurately convey the nature of our safety systems, the recent Washington Post article is particularly egregious in its misstatements and lack of relevant context.

We at Tesla believe that we have a moral obligation to continue…

— Tesla (@Tesla) December 12, 2023

Not to get all tribal... but whose side are you on?