Software update
Two million vehicles affected: Tesla has to improve Autopilot
Tesla will have to ask drivers for attention more often in the future
© Wirestock / Imago Images
Around two million American Tesla vehicles will receive an update in the coming days. This is intended to better protect the assistance systems, called autopilot, from misuse. Tesla is probably making the change primarily due to an official investigation.
Officially voluntary, but probably grudgingly, Tesla will have to update almost its entire US vehicle fleet in the coming days. The NHTSA safety recall report states that 2,031,220 Vehicles from 2012 to 2023 are affected, including all models except the Cybertruck.
By the way, recall is an outdated term in connection with adapting the software – because no Tesla has to go back to the workshop for the update. The required changes will be transferred to the affected cars as a so-called over-the-air update (OTA). Anything else would have been a logistical nightmare for the company.
Tesla needs to monitor drivers more closely
As part of the update, Tesla will add new protection mechanisms to the Autopilot system after the federal regulator raised safety concerns. These changes are intended to ensure that drivers remain alert when using “Autopilot.”
The NHTSA concluded after years of investigation that the system’s controls “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse” and could increase the risk of a crash. Acting NHTSA Director Ann Carlson praised Tesla for agreeing to the recall.
The upcoming changes are intended to change the autopilot in such a way that the function called Autosteer will in future provide significantly more information, both acoustically and visually, if the driver is distracted and/or is not holding the steering wheel. Tesla describes Autosteer’s function as follows: “Autosteer maintains a specific speed or distance. In addition, Autosteer detects lane markings, road edges and the presence of vehicles and objects to keep the vehicle in its lane.”
Other manufacturers that offer a similar function, in contrast to Tesla, check much more strictly whether the person behind the wheel is looking at the road and holding the steering wheel. Until now, Tesla was considered comparatively relaxed when it came to the legally required obligation to constantly check the behavior of drivers for negligence.
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Accident investigations are ongoing
The autopilot has been criticized in many countries for various reasons. The NHTSA has been analyzing countless accidents involving Tesla vehicles for years in which the software may have played a decisive role at the time of the accident. The software that has now been amended by mutual agreement does not change this fact. As the Reuters news agency reports, the authority is continuing the investigation.