According to a notice that appeared on the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSA) website, the Full Self-Driving Beta (FSD Beta) can cause vehicle crashes by allowing vehicles to “act unsafe around intersections, such as 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 recall affects Model S sedans made from 2016 to 2023; Model Y sedans made from 2017 to 2023; Model X sport utility vehicles made from 2017 to 2023; and Model Y SUVs made between 2020 and 2023 that have been equipped with or pending installation of FSD Beta. In all, 362,758 vehicles are affected - about 43% of all Teslas on US roads.
According to the notice, Tesla will “release an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge.”
16 February 2023, 17:36 GMT
Tesla’s shares suffered at the news, falling by about 5.3%. Tesla’s stock has seen a rough 12 months, losing 72% of its value by January 2023. However, its value has doubled in the month since its nadir.
Tesla’s self-driving ability has been tested on American roads for years and highly criticized for running drivers into embankments, other cars, and through crosswalks as people used them. According to US government data, 11 people were killed in car crashes involving autonomous vehicles in a four-month period last year, 10 of which were Teslas.
Last October, Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, told US media there was a “pretty clear pattern of bad behavior on the part of Tesla when it comes to obeying the edicts of the (federal) safety act, and NHTSA is just sitting there. How many more deaths do we need to see of motorcyclists?”
However, Tesla cars don’t ship with FSD Beta on them - owners have to pay either $15,000 up front or $199 per month for the service, and must meet and maintain Tesla’s standards for driver safety. The company has never disclosed how many Tesla drivers use the service, but CEO Elon Musk hinted to investors that “roughly 400,000 customers” had access to the latest version in a recent earnings call.