(New York) The audible alert warning pedestrians of the presence of a Tesla vehicle may be masked by other sounds emitted by the vehicle. Tesla will therefore recall 578,607 vehicles equipped with the Boombox option to correct the situation, thus initiating its fourth recall in two weeks.
Posted yesterday at 10:26 a.m.
However, motorists will not have to return their cars to garages or dealerships, as Elon Musk’s group plans to solve the problem by updating its software remotely.
US regulations provide specific standards for the sounds that electric and hybrid vehicles must emit, which are quieter than combustion engine vehicles, in order to warn pedestrians.
Boombox Option
However, the Boombox option launched by Tesla at the end of 2020, which makes it possible to emit personalized sounds from an external speaker when the car is parked or in motion, could interfere with this sound, estimated the NHTSA.
This “could increase the risk of collision,” says the document announcing the recall. Tesla says it has no knowledge of any accidents caused by this issue.
The agency sent an initial request for information to Tesla on Boombox as early as January 2021 and then held several meetings with the manufacturer, which tried to defend the compliance of this option.
But Tesla eventually agreed to disable the feature when the vehicle is in drive, reverse or neutral mode.
The group thus engages its fourth official recall in a short time in the United States.
NHTSA announced on 1er February that the group was going to deactivate, on nearly 54,000 vehicles equipped with the FSD Beta driving assistance system, the function allowing automatic continuation of driving after having passed a “Stop” sign instead of marking a complete stop.
Two days later, the recall of 817,143 vehicles was announced to adjust the alert that sounds when the seat belt is not fastened, which may not activate under certain conditions.
And on Wednesday, the agency announced a recall of 26,681 cars to fix a software error related to a valve in the heat pump that could affect the ability to defrost the windshield.
Tesla has for a long time regularly updated its software remotely without necessarily notifying users or regulators. But the NHTSA has intensified its actions against the group in recent months, including launching an investigation last summer following several collisions with emergency vehicles and requesting more information from the company.