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The FSD Beta software, which allows drivers to slowly roll past stop signs, is being recalled by Tesla!
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- Tesla is recalling over 53,000 cars with FSD beta software that includes a setting that allows cars to go past stop signs.
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the function “may enhance the danger of an accident.”
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk has billed the company as the automaker of the future, but its vehicles are now restricted to driver-assistance systems, requiring drivers to remain alert while behind the wheel.
According to data revealed Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla will recall software from 53,822 Model S, 3, X, and Y vehicles in the United States to remove a function that allows cars to automatically roll past stop signs.
These vehicles use the company’s so-called Full Self-Driving Beta (or FSD Beta) software, which is still in its early stages. According to the NHTSA notifications, newer versions of FSD Beta (2020.40.4.10 or later) enable drivers a “rolling stop” capability that allows their cars to automatically “roll through an all-way stop junction without first coming to a stop,” which “may increase the risk of an accident.”
“As of January 27, 2022, Tesla is not aware of any warranty claims, field reports, collisions, injuries, or fatalities linked to this problem,” Tesla noted in its communications to the NHTSA. The world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer will remove these functions via a free over-the-air software update, eliminating the need for consumers to take their vehicles to a store or service facility to fix the problem.
The FSD Beta program enables Tesla users early use of new functions that haven’t been fully tested, such as “autosteer on city streets,” which allows drivers to navigate through difficult and dense urban surroundings without having to move their hands from the steering wheel. FSD Beta, despite its name, does not make Tesla vehicles self-driving.
The FSD Beta program is open to Tesla owners who purchase the company’s $12,000 premium driver-assist system or subscribe to it for $199 a month. Before receiving access, they must hold a high driving safety score as calculated by Tesla software. To utilize the incomplete features on public roads in the United States, the business does not need FSD Beta drivers to have any safety training or professional credentials.
Tesla stated in its most recent financial statement on Jan. 26 that the contentious testing program had been expanded to about 60,000 vehicles throughout the country.
However, federal authorities are scrutinizing the Telsa program more closely. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into whether FSD Beta was at fault for a Model Y crash in Brea, California, in November 2021, and the California DMV is looking into the company’s use of the phrase “Full Self-Driving” to market and sells it to consumers.
“Over time, we believe Full Self-Driving will become the most significant source of revenue for Tesla,” CEO Elon Musk stated on a recent earnings call.
“My personal guess,” he added, “is that we’ll achieve Full Self-Driving this year at a safety level significantly greater than a person. So the cars in the fleet essentially becoming self-driving via a software update, I think, might end up being the biggest increase in asset value of any asset class in history. We shall see.”
However, Rodney Brooks, a robotics professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is skeptical about the timing. “They’d have to have autonomous cars moving around today picking people up in a demo if this was going to materialize in three years, let alone this year.” Brooks stated, “There isn’t even a demo.”
Since at least 2016, Musk has promised Tesla stockholders and fans an autonomous car, but the company’s vehicles are now confined to driver-assistance capabilities, requiring drivers to remain alert while behind the wheel.
Tesla did not reply to seeking comment on the recall or the 6,178 vehicles included in its fourth-quarter shareholder presentation that were not included in the notification Tesla issued with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Jan. 27.
Tesla shares, on the other hand, were unaffected by the software recall, closing Tuesday about flat at $931.25.
