Hard blow for Tesla and for its customers. The manufacturer will have to update 362,758 cars in the United States, because the US Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) has concluded that the beta of its "Full self-driving mode" (FSD, or "fully autonomous driving capability" in France) could cause the vehicle to act in a potentially dangerous way at intersections, with a risk of accident.

Investors reacted badly to this opinion published Thursday, and the title of the manufacturer of electric vehicles fell 5.69% on the session. The recall covers all models in the range, S, X, Y and Model 3, equipped with FSD software or planned to receive it, that Tesla charges $ 15,000.

The FSD, which is in the test phase, is a so-called level 2 software, which is more about driver assistance than autonomous driving despite its name. It requires the user to keep his hands on the steering wheel and be ready to intervene.

Dangerous driving

According to the notice published by NHTSA, defects in the software, when activated, can cause the vehicle to continue straight ahead when it has entered an escape lane that theoretically requires turning. A car with FSD software turned on can also cross an intersection with stop signs without observing a complete stop, or pass an intersection with fixed amber lights without slowing down.

According to the Agency, the vehicles concerned may also "not react sufficiently to reported changes in speed limits" or not intervene when a driver exceeds the maximum speed limit.

To remedy these defects, reported by NHTSA, Tesla plans to perform a software update, at its expense, it is stated in the notice. At this stage, it is unclear whether Tesla will be able to fix the issues raised or will have to downgrade the software to a less complete version and refund users.

Software update

However, this recall does not require you to return your vehicle to a Tesla checkpoint. "The term 'recall' to describe a software update is anachronistic and simply wrong," Elon Musk tweeted, reacting to the announcement.

In June 2022, NHTSA published a report mentioning that Teslas equipped with driver assistance software, active at one time or another during the 30 seconds preceding the incident, had been involved in 273 traffic accidents in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Tesla's driver assistance systems, according to a document published in late January by the stock market regulator, the SEC.

In the document, Tesla recalled that the FSD and the other software, called "Autopilot", were "designed to be used by a vigilant driver whose hands are on the wheel and who is ready to regain control at any time".

But for several years, the boss of the manufacturer, Elon Musk, has regularly gone much further in his statements. As early as 2019, it promised the commissioning, within the year, of a vehicle capable of fully autonomous driving, without any intervention from a passenger. No vehicle in the range is, to date, equipped with such software.

In an interview with CNBC in October 2021, the head of the US Transportation Accident Investigation Agency (NTSB), Jennifer Homendy, had called the use of the term "fully autonomous driving" "misleading".

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