Tesla has been forced to recall nearly 54,000 models that are fitted with the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta due to “rolling stop” functionality that the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claims “can increase the risk of a crash.”
The good news, however, for affected Tesla owners is that the company is able to complete the “recall” by performing an over-the-air software update that will disable the “rolling stop” functionality.
A total of 53,822 Tesla models will receive the recall update, including the Model 3 made between 2017 and 2022, the Model S made between 2016 and 2022, the Model X made between 2016 and 2022, and the Model Y made between 2020 and 2022.
The rolling stop functionality was designed to allow a Tesla vehicle to travel through an all-way-stop intersection without coming to a complete stop, but only when several operating conditions were met first.
Only after a total of 7 conditions are met was the Tesla vehicle able to roll through at a speed between 0.1mph up to 5.6mph without first coming to a complete stop.
First introduced in October 2020 as part of firmware release 2020.40.4.10 for the FSD Beta, it is unknown exactly why such a feature as a “rolling stop” functionality was included, given that – just as in Australia – a stop sign requires a vehicle come to a complete stop at an intersection.
And though Tesla has yet to receive any warranty claims, reports of issues or crashes, injuries, or fatalities, it was nevertheless planning to roll out a fix through firmware release 2021.44.30.15 which would disable the feature.
The NHTSA’s safety recall can be viewed in full here as can the NHTSA’s Safety Recall Report here and its notification to Tesla here.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.