Tesla will recall 53,822 vehicles in the US with Full Self-Driving (Beta) software that prevents them from slowing down at certain intersections.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said some 2016-2022 Model S and Model X, 2017-2022 Model 3 and 2020-2022 Model Y will be recalled.
Tesla will perform a remote software update that will disable the "sliding stop" feature, according to NHTSA officials.
The agency added that it "maintains regular discussions with all manufacturers to discuss potential security issues with these types of systems."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated on Twitter that "there were no security issues" with the feature. “The car would just slow down to ~2 mph and keep moving forward if the view was clear with no cars or pedestrians,” he wrote.
The NHTSA noted that federal law "prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with defects that pose an unreasonable safety risk, including the deliberate choice of an unsafe design."
Tesla said last week that the number of FSD beta testers in the United States had increased to nearly 60,000 from a few thousand at the end of September. The company is testing an improved version of its automated driving software on public roads.
As of January 27, Tesla was not aware of any warranty claims, accidents, injuries, or deaths related to the current EV recall. Tesla told the agency that it released an updated version of the FSD on October 20 that introduces a "sliding stop" feature. To use this feature, vehicles must be traveling at less than 9 km/h and no moving vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists must be detected near the intersection.
The feature, which appeared to violate state laws requiring vehicles to come to a complete stop and requiring drivers to agree to what it called an "assertive" regime, garnered attention on social media and prompted NHTSA to question Tesla.
According to a defect report filed with the Automotive Safety Agency, the company said it met with NHTSA officials on Jan. 10 and Jan. 19 "to discuss functionality, including operating parameters," and on Jan. 20, the automaker agreed to organize a recall of electric vehicles.
Users in the comments note that their version of FSD also ignores speed limit signs in the school area, which set speed limits at certain times.
Authorities are also investigating a dozen accidents in which a Tesla on autopilot collided with several parked ambulances. In the crashes under investigation, at least 17 people were injured and one died.
In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered Tesla to hand over detailed data about the operation of the company's Autopilot. The requested data includes information on how the autopilot keeps drivers focused on the road, whether there are any restrictions on where it can be turned on, and how the autopilot recognizes police, fire, ambulance and other emergency vehicles on the road. The regulator later accused the company of failing to provide information about Autopilot updates.
In November, Tesla recalled nearly 12,000 U.S. vehicles sold since 2017 for another software update because a communication error could have resulted in a false forward collision warning or unexpected activation of the emergency braking system.
Late last year, Tesla agreed to ban games from running on the on-board computer screen while the electric car is in motion. The company promised to block the Passenger Play option if the car is not in parking mode in the next software update. Earlier in the month, a Model 3 owner presented proof that he was able to run solitaire on the electric car's system while driving.
In January, Tesla released a beta version of the Full-Self Driving autopilot system with driving profiles of Easy, Medium, and Persistent. They differ in they react to certain situations on the road. In particular, persistent driving means that the vehicle will keep a shorter distance and change lanes more often.
At the beginning of the year, the company said that it would not present new models of electric cars in 2022, including a budget version of an electric car for $25,000. The manufacturer also announced that it was postponing the serial production of the Cybertruck electric pickup truck.
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