Tesla has recalled just shy of 12,000 of its Model 3, Y, S and X vehicles to address an issue that causes their automatic emergency braking software to activate unexpectedly, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Tesla confirmed Tuesday.
“A software communication error may, under a certain sequence of events, result in false forward-collision warnings (FCW) and/or automatic emergency brake (AEB) events,” Tesla said in its recall report to NHTSA. “If the AEB system unexpectedly activates while driving, the risk of a rear-end collision from a following vehicle may increase. We are not aware of any crashes or injuries related to this condition.”
The recall covers 11,704 Model S, X, 3 and Y vehicles running firmware release 2021.36.5.2, which was released via Tesla’s over-the-air (OTA) software update system on Oct. 23. The update “introduced a software communication disconnect” between onboard systems that could cause the vehicles’ camera systems to generate what are essentially false positives in the automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems.
Tesla says the update to address the issue has already been deployed and customers should not have to do anything further to address the issue. The update may have headed off a looming confrontation with U.S. safety regulators, but recall documents posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website Tuesday don’t address another safety issue specified by the agency when it demanded that Tesla explain why it wasn’t doing recalls for safety-related software updates done over the internet.
Company documents say Tesla started getting reports from owners the next day about phantom braking. In a matter of hours, the company says it canceled further updates or reverted the software to a previous version, in some cases disabling the automated braking feature entirely, prompting some Tesla owners to ask CEO Elon Musk why it had been switched off without their permission.
On Oct. 24, the company traced the cause to a communication disconnect between two computer chips. It developed another software update to fix the problem and sent it out on Oct. 25, according to the documents. The company said it voluntarily agreed to do a recall on Oct. 26.
The move appears to show that Tesla now will issue a recall when it pushes out software updates to fix safety issues. It also sets a precedent for other automakers that they do the same.
On Oct. 12, regulators sent a letter to Tesla demanding to know why the company didn’t recall its vehicles when it sent a software update to fix a problem with its Autopilot partially automated driving system. The update addressed detection of emergency vehicles parked on roads while crews responded to crashes.
The NHTSA opened an investigation of Autopilot in August after getting reports of a dozen crashes into emergency vehicles. The investigation covers 765,000 vehicles, almost everything that Tesla has sold in the U.S. since the start of the 2014 model year. Of the dozen crashes that are part of the probe, 17 people were injured and one was killed.
Tesla had until Monday to explain why it didn’t issue a recall for the Autopilot update. As of early Tuesday, NHTSA had not posted any documents detailing Tesla’s response.
The agency said conversations with Tesla continue “to ensure that any safety defect is promptly acknowledged and addressed according to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.” The statement didn’t say if Tesla responded to the agency’s questions on the Autopilot software update.
Tesla did a software update in late September that was intended to improve detection of emergency vehicle lights in low-light conditions. The agency says Tesla is aware that federal law requires automakers to do a recall if they find out that vehicles have safety defects.
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Source: www.autoblog.com