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Tesla Recalls 600,000 Vehicles Over Boombox Obscuring Pedestrian Warning Sounds

Back in December 2020, the peeps at Tesla launched firmware release 2020.48.25 that included the Boombox function. Less than a month later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an information request to investigate the update’s compliance with FMVSS number 141.
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Photo: Tesla
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Tesla responded in February 2021, explaining the Boombox’s performance and demonstrating its compliance. Be that as it may, the federal watchdog wanted more information. The NHTSA upgraded the investigation to a preliminary evaluation in September 2021. The Texas-based automaker defended the feature once again, and this back and forth continued until January 2022, when Tesla decided to voluntarily disable the Boombox in drive, neutral, and reverse over fears of obscuring pedestrian alert sounds.

No fewer than 578,607 vehicles didn't comply with FMVSS 141 for minimum sound requirements in HVs and EVs. The recall was submitted in February 2022, and the OTA update rolled out shortly thereafter. Elon Musk said on Twitter thatthe fun police made us do it,” but the joke’s on him.

As a follow-up to the aforementioned recall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration inquired about the availability of Boombox when the summon or smart summon functions are in use. Guess what? Tesla has to recall 594,717 vehicles because of this oversight, although recall isn’t the right word considering that an over-the-air deployment will fix this issue.

Tesla is not aware of any crashes, injuries, or fatalities related to this condition. The vehicles covered by this recall are 2017 to 2022 Model 3 sedans, followed by 2020 to 2022 Model Ys, Model Ss, and Model Xs. Build dates range from December 27th, 2017, through March 31st, 2022.

Firmware releases that disable the Boombox function in drive, neutral, reverse, summon, and smart summon were introduced in production on March 31st, according to the attached document. Although unnecessary, Tesla has to notify owners by snail mail. Notifications will be sent on June 6th.
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 Download: Tesla Boombox recall #2 (PDF)

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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