Tesla is limiting the use of its Autopilot driver-assistance software as part of a recall of two million vehicles, following a multi-year investigation by the nation’s top auto safety regulator.
The recall restricts the use of Autosteer, the key feature of Tesla’s basic Autopilot software that allows the car to remain planted in the center of the lane even around large curves, and has helped Tesla’s driver-assistance system continue to claim some operational dominance over rivals. Basic Autopilot, which comes standard in all Tesla cars, also includes a feature called Traffic Aware Cruise Control, which works much like the adaptive cruise control found in most modern cars.
Specifically, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says. The documents were released on Wednesday The way Tesla cars check to see if drivers are paying attention to the road while using Autopilot’s automatic steering feature is “[i]Not enough.” To fix this problem, Tesla will soon ship a software update over the air that will add “additional controls and alerts” to encourage drivers to stay alert while using the so-called Autosteer feature and, more importantly, perform “additional checks” on activation. The software is in Places where it is not supposed to be used.
Tesla has long said that Auto-routing feature “It is intended for use on access-controlled highways with a fully attentive driver,” but its cars do not prevent drivers from activating it in other places as long as some basic conditions – such as a system that recognizes lane markings – are met.
Adding any kind of restrictions is a stunning decision for Tesla, a company that never backs down from the capabilities of its cars, with CEO Elon Musk always touting the idea of a “full self-driving” future. This comes at a time when the company is facing a number of lawsuits related to Autopilot. (One such program, in California, has already gone Tesla’s way.) The software suite is also the focus of a number of federal and state investigations.
NHTSA says in the documents that it began meeting with Tesla in October about its findings regarding driver misuse of the Autosteer software. The agency says Tesla did not agree to the analysis, but ultimately decided on December 5 to manage the recall.