Tesla is launching a massive recall for self-driving cars

Tesla has to recall 363,000 cars in America. It affects all self-driving cars in the country. A huge recall.

Tesla’s full self-driving system has been the subject of comment for some time. The cars cannot drive themselves at all, although the name suggests this. However, this misunderstanding is not the main problem.

Tesla’s recall affects 363,000 cars

Tesla has to initiate the recall at the urging of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA is the American NCAP). All cars that have the self-driving capabilities will need an update in America. Next up are the Model S, Model 3, Model Y, and Model X.

The NHTSA reports that the Teslas can make wrong decisions at intersections. Driving straight while pre-sorted for a turn, not crossing the street carefully enough, not using your turn signal lights, and not stopping at a stop sign are all common occurrences, according to NHTSA.

No callback

Although we call the incident a recall, that’s not entirely true. Elon Musk says on Twitter that the problem can be fixed with an update.

Definitive. The word “recall” for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just plain wrong!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2023

According to NHTSA, there were 273 reported accidents involving Tesla driver assistance systems between May 2019 and September 2022. 18 reports would relate to what this recall has now been initiated for.

The software for a “self-driving” car is not yet available in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands we don’t have to worry about errors from Teslas in full self-driving yet. In America, drivers can already try out the beta versions of the software. This is not possible in the Netherlands. And that’s a good thing, because the teething problems aren’t over yet. The question, however, is whether the current Teslas can ever become truly self-driving. Many experts say that this is not possible at all without lidar.