Tesla reportedly recalled nearly every one of its two million cars on the road in the United States due to an Autopilot safety concern.
The most highly valued automaker in the world — by far — was recently informed by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of their two-year investigation on 1,000 car crashes involving Tesla vehicles that illuminated two main issues:
- “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 feature.]”
- The NHTSA added that drivers are sometimes not fully engaged and ready to take back control of the car when necessary and subsequently “there may be an increased risk of a crash.”
The Elon Musk-owned, Austin, Texas-based company informed the media that the company will install sufficient safety guards to give drivers warnings when the software notices drivers are not paying attention to the road when the Autopilot’s “Autosteer” function has been turned on.
“We at Tesla believe that we have a moral obligation to continue improving our already best-in-class safety systems. At the same time, we also believe it is morally indefensible not to make these systems available to a wider set of consumers, given the incontrovertible data that shows it is saving lives and preventing injury,” Tesla said in a statement obtained by CNN.
“Regulators around the globe have a duty to protect consumers, and the Tesla team looks forward to continuing our work with them towards our common goal of eliminating as many deaths and injuries as possible on our roadways.”
This damning report follows a February 2023 recall of more than 350,000 cars because the cars applying the Autopilot’s “Autosteer” option. ABC News reported that Teslas were often “traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.”
The report caused the company’s stock to drop slightly on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023.
Some buyers explained to CNN they do not believe the extra $6,000 “enhanced Autopilot” and the $12,000 for the Full Service Driving feature are worth it, though Tesla does have its share of consumer backers.
Despite selling just a fraction of the cars of the traditional world automaking powers, Tesla’s current valuation is reportedly much higher than General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Stellantis and even Volkswagon which also owns Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini.
