Tesla’s fix to recall Autopilot for more than 2 million vehicles is called “inadequate.” Consumer Reportsafter preliminary tests.
Kelly Fankhauser, associate director of vehicle technology at the nonprofit, told TechCrunch that she discovered that the cabin camera can still be covered while on Autopilot, meaning drivers can neutralize one of the two main ways the car monitors them if they’re paying attention to the road.
What’s more, Funkhouser says she hasn’t noticed any differences when activating or using Autopilot’s main feature, Autosteer, outside of the access-controlled highways where Tesla says the software is designed to be used.
Although the testing is not comprehensive, it shows that questions remain unanswered about Tesla’s approach to driver monitoring, the technology at the heart of the recall.
The group, which has a long history of critically evaluating both Tesla technology and its vehicles, plans to conduct more extensive testing in the coming weeks. Funkhouser says Consumer Reports has not yet evaluated other changes, such as more prominent visual alerts on the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV, because it has only received an over-the-air software update on the Model S sedan.
Tesla also added a suspension policy that will deactivate Autopilot for one week if “improper use” is detected, something Fankhauser said she did not encounter during two drives lasting between 15 and 20 miles each.
The recall, announced last week, affects more than 2 million vehicles in the United States and Canada and comes in the middle of a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It focused heavily on the Autosteer feature, which is designed to keep the car centered in a lane on access-controlled highways, even around curves.
Tesla asks drivers to pay attention to the road and keep their hands on the wheel while using Autosteer, and monitors this through a set of torque sensors in the steering wheel and, in its newer cars, an in-cabin camera. But NHTSA said in documents released last week that it considers those checks “insufficient to prevent abuse.”
However, Tesla does not restrict Autosteer use on access-controlled highways. Alternatively, drivers can activate Autosteer on other roads as long as certain basic conditions (such as visible lane markings) are met. As part of the recall, NHTSA said Tesla will add “additional checks when Autosteer is engaged and while using the feature outside of controlled highways and when approaching traffic controls.”
Some owners fear that means Tesla will limit the Autosteer system to access-controlled highways — similar to how Ford and General Motors handle their Blue Cruise and SuperCruise systems. As the update began rolling out over the weekend, a few shared thoughts in online forums about this update How to avoid it By disconnecting Tesla’s cellular or Wi-Fi radios.
But such drastic measures are clearly not necessary, according to Fennhauser’s tests. While Tesla highlights in its latest software update release that the camera “can now identify driver inattention and provide you with audible alerts, reminding you to keep your eyes on the road when Autopilot is engaged,” this is the same language the company used when Cabin Camera driver monitoring was first enabled. Once In 2021“, points out. And DrAlthough Tesla said in Release notes that she has”[i]“Driver attention requirements when using Autosteer and approaching traffic lights and stop signs off the highway have become more stringent,” Fankhauser said These changes weren’t noticeable in her initial testing — partly because it’s difficult to know exactly what Tesla meant at first.
All of this makes it unclear whether or to what extent Tesla has tweaked the camera’s ability to monitor driver attention in the update. (NHTSA declined to comment, instead directing questions to Tesla. Tesla disbanded its press department years ago.)
“None of this is very prescriptive or clear as to what they are going to do [change]“Fenhouser says.