Tesla recalls 2.74 million China-built Model 3 and Y cars to add in-cabin driver monitoring

Tesla is recalling 2.74 million China-built Model 3 and Model Y vehicles after regulators concluded that detecting a driver’s hands on the steering wheel is not enough to ensure they are watching the road.

The remedy will use the in-cabin camera to monitor driver attention during assisted driving, marking a major expansion of camera-based supervision in Tesla’s second-largest market.

The recall, effective immediately, will be resolved by a free over-the-air software update.

It applies to Model 3 and Model Y vehicles built in China from March 4, 2019, through Dec. 7, 2025, as per Electrek.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said Tesla’s existing driver-attention system was inadequate when vehicles use Autosteer and enter “combination driving assistance” — China’s regulatory term for Level 2 driving automation.

Until now, Tesla’s system largely relied on steering-wheel torque: it looked for small inputs that suggest a driver is holding or nudging the wheel. Regulators concluded that this cannot reliably establish whether a driver is actually looking at the road.

Tesla will now add cabin-camera monitoring alongside torque detection.

Put simply, the vehicle will not only check whether a hand is applying pressure to the steering wheel; it will also assess whether the driver’s gaze is directed toward the road, CNBC reported.

The change follows reports that some Tesla drivers in China had used inexpensive plastic doll heads or figurines positioned near the rear-view mirror to fool camera-based monitoring systems into detecting a face looking forward.

Those workarounds expose the central safety issue: an assisted-driving system can be capable of handling portions of a journey while still requiring continuous human oversight. If the driver is eating, sleeping, watching a screen or otherwise disengaged, the system’s limitations can turn an ordinary road situation into a crash risk.

The recall is therefore not just a technical upgrade. It is a regulatory declaration that simulated steering input — or an object designed to mimic a watchful driver — cannot substitute for real human attention.

Tesla had previously faced scrutiny in China over in-car cameras and data security. In 2021, the company said China-market vehicles had not activated cabin cameras, amid concerns about how vehicle data could be collected, stored and used.

That balance is now shifting. China’s regulators are demanding stronger safeguards as advanced driver-assistance systems become more widely deployed.

Tesla began using camera-based supervision in China this year with its renamed “Tesla Assisted Driving” features, previously marketed as Full Self-Driving in other markets.

The US had already pushed Tesla in a similar direction. A December 2023 recall involving roughly 2 million Tesla vehicles required the company to strengthen safeguards designed to ensure drivers remained engaged while using Autopilot.

The driver-monitoring action was announced alongside a separate Tesla recall covering 2,975,910 China-made and imported Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X vehicles.

That second recall concerns emergency mechanical door releases that Chinese regulators said could be difficult for occupants to find and operate after a crash or power failure.

Tesla plans warning labels and software-related measures, with that action taking effect Sept. 25, the Straits Times reported.

Together, the two actions cover 5,716,552 vehicles — Tesla’s largest combined recall total in China.

The number includes overlapping vehicles, so it should not be read as more than 5.7 million distinct cars.

Beijing's new rules now mandate that while advanced driver assistance may be marketed as convenience technology, regulators expect the driver to remain visible, alert and ready to act — with no loopholes for a hand on the wheel, a distracted gaze or a plastic stand-in.