• D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
  • Riyadh
  • Beijing
  • SG
  • D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
Semafor Logo
  • Riyadh
  • Beijing
  • SG


Tesla recalls over 350,000 cars that use its beta self-driving system

Updated Feb 16, 2023, 2:23pm EST
North America
PostEmailWhatsapp
Title icon

The Number

Tesla is recalling and updating 362,758 cars equipped with the beta version of its fully self-driving software, which “allows a vehicle to exceed speed limits or travel through intersections in an unlawful or unpredictable manner,” the U.S. government’s auto safety regulator said Thursday.

The recall — which involves a remote software update — applies to certain models of Tesla’s electric Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y cars that are equipped with the “Full Self-Driving Beta” tech, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

A visitor checks a Tesla Model 3 car at a showroom of the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker in Beijing, China February 4, 2023.
REUTERS/Florence Lo
Title icon

Know More

The cars won’t need to be taken off the road to be fixed — Tesla owners will get a free remote software update to fix the issue, the NHTSA said.

AD

Tesla CEO Elon Musk pushed back against calling it a “recall.”

“The word ‘recall’ for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just flat wrong!” Musk said on Twitter.

The self-driving system “may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane ... or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution,” the recall notice stated.

AD

It might also cause the cars to exceed posted speed limits, or go past stop signs without coming to a complete stop.

Title icon

Step Back

The early version of the self-driving software was made available last November to anyone who requested and bought it. Before that, it was only available to a smaller pool of Tesla owners.

At the time, Musk called it “a major milestone.”

AD

The NHTSA had been investigating Tesla’s self-driving tech, and the U.S. Department of Justice reportedly launched its own probe last year over concerns that the software was unsafe and led to crashes.

AD