Tesla 'Recalls' 2 Million EVs With an OTA Software Update To Prevent Autopilot Abuse

Tesla has been harshly criticized for using misleading names such as Autopilot and Full Self-Driving to designate features that are nowhere near autonomous driving. Because of that, many Tesla drivers abuse these systems, trying to prove that their Teslas can drive themselves. There are countless videos of people sitting in a rear seat while the car is moving, with no one behind the wheel or even sleeping while driving.

As you can imagine, many such instances have led to horrifying crashes and loss of human life, which only fueled the backlash against Tesla. Recently, safety regulators have stepped in to investigate whether Tesla has done its part to prevent such dangerous behavior from happening. The most striking move Tesla made was to make it clear that Autopilot and even Full Self-Driving are not automated driving systems but mere Level-2 safety assistance systems. This means that they are not designed to drive the car but only to assist the driver, who must remain alert and in control at all times.

However upset Tesla fans were by this change of course, Tesla made the right decision and continued to improve the safety checks that prevent people from abusing these systems. An important step in this direction was employing the cabin camera to determine whether the driver was paying attention and was not incapacitated or distracted. However, the regulators found that this was not enough and pressured Tesla to step up its game to prevent more crashes from happening.

The EV maker is now issuing a voluntary software recall to make changes that will make it harder for drivers to abuse Autopilot and FSD in the future. The change affects more than two million Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X EVs equipped with Autosteer, which is a component of Basic Autopilot that allows vehicles to remain centered on a lane while driving. That's basically most 2012-2023 Model S vehicles, all 2016-2023 Model X vehicles, all 2017-2023 Model 3 vehicles, and all 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles that are equipped with Autosteer and were produced through December 7, 2023.

Tesla makes it clear that this so-called recall is the result of NHTSA's prolonged investigation into Autopilot. The agency found that Tesla's measures to keep the drivers engaged were inadequate and could lead to "foreseeable misuse." To address these concerns, Tesla will push the update 2023.44.30 to the affected vehicles. The update should arrive in the coming days, although Tesla doesn't specifically explain what changes will include. What's certain is that the update will add new controls and alerts for drivers to keep them alert.

"Depending on vehicle hardware, the additional controls will include, among others, increasing the prominence of visual alerts on the user interface, simplifying engagement and disengagement of Autosteer, additional checks upon engaging Autosteer and while using the feature outside controlled access highways and when approaching traffic controls, and eventual suspension from Autosteer use if the driver repeatedly fails to demonstrate continuous and sustained driving responsibility while the feature is engaged."

Although unrelated to the recall, Tesla is also changing the terms describing its safety assistance systems. Based on Cybertruck's order page, which for now is only accessible to those invited to configure a Foundation Series model, Tesla replaces "Navigate on Autopilot" with "Highway Autosteer." This makes it more consistent with the term "Autosteer on City Streets" used for the FSD Capability. This indicates that Tesla might move away from Autopilot or Full Self-Driving names in the future to appease the critics.