Why are Teslas being recalled? Here’s what to do if your car is affected

Tesla has issued a recall for more than 2 million vehicles on the road after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found a defect in its Autopilot driver assistance technology. NHTSA has been conducting an investigation into Autopilot technology for more than two years, stemming from around a dozen incidents in which Teslas using Autopilot were reported crashing into parked emergency vehicles. NHTSA said Tesla's method of ensuring drivers are still paying attention while the driver-assistance system is activated is "insufficient." Autopilot and similar systems still require drivers to pay attention and be in control of the car when in use.

A Washington Post analysis this month identified about 40 fatal or serious crashes since 2016 involving Tesla's driver assistance software; the bulk of them were identified through NHTSA's data, and the rest surfaced through lawsuits. In several of those cases, drivers had activated Autopilot on roads where it was not designed to be used. The recall, which will be delivered as a software update to affected Teslas, requires more "controls and alerts" to make sure drivers are still paying attention to the road while using Autosteer, a key function of Autopilot.

Tesla, like other automakers with driver-assistance technology, has built-in checks in the system to make sure drivers are keeping their hands on the wheel and paying attention to the road when using Autopilot. But a NHTSA investigation found that some Tesla controls "may not be sufficient" to stop drivers from misusing the technology, and is calling for the technology to include increased checks on the driver.

The recall covers almost all Tesla vehicles. Tesla is sending out a software update to fix the problems affecting its 2012-2023 Model S, 2016-2023 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3 and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles, effectively encompassing all Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot. If you have a Tesla, chances are your vehicle is getting a software update.

You don't need to take your Tesla into a shop. Tesla has agreed to do an "over-the-air" software update that will add increased driver monitoring to the Autopilot system starting Tuesday, Dec. 12. Regulators have emphasized that drivers need to be alert with their hands on the wheel even when Autopilot is enabled, something Tesla tells drivers before using the software. The software update adds extra controls and alerts on vehicles that "encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility," according to an NHTSA recall document. The update also places additional driver-engagement checks when using Autosteer outside of areas where it's designed to work, and includes a feature that turns Autosteer off if drivers repeatedly fail to stay engaged at the wheel.

In its user manual, Tesla says that Autosteer is "intended for use on controlled-access highways with a fully attentive driver." That usually means highways with on- and off-ramps and a center median to separate opposing lanes. Such highways do not typically have traditional intersections with stoplights or stop signs. The first time a driver turns on Autosteer, a message pops up on the dashboard screen warning that the function is designed for "highways that have a center divider, clear lane markings, and no cross traffic." Tesla has said repeatedly that Autopilot is not designed to be used on roads with cross-traffic.

Tesla models have been hit with more than a dozen recalls, including for both hardware and software. In February, Tesla recalled more than 360,000 vehicles equipped with its Full Self-Driving Beta software over apparent crash risks. In early 2022, the automaker recalled more than 50,000 vehicles amid concerns that Full Self Driving software can allow users to roll through stop signs without coming to a full stop. In both cases, Tesla used a software update to address the issues. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has decried NHTSA as the "fun police" and has taken issue with regulators' terminology, posting on X that the use of the word "'recall' for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just flat wrong!"

In a statement Wednesday, NHTSA said the recall is "an example of improving automated systems by prioritising safety." Tesla has for years insisted that cars using Autopilot are safer than those without driver-assistance technology, pointing to data that shows a lower ratio of crashes per miles driven in Teslas using Autopilot than those not using the system.

In a statement this week responding to a Washington Post report that detailed the company's failure to limit Autopilot to locations and conditions for which it was designed, Tesla said it has a "moral obligation" to continue improving its safety systems, while adding that it's "morally indefensible" to not make these features available to a wider set of consumers.

Experts who study driver assistance systems have called on regulators for years to more closely monitor and limit the systems. Philip Koopman, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon who has studied self-driving-car safety for more than 25 years, said Wednesday that the latest recall is a "broader scope than what NHTSA has typically done." "The good message NHTSA is sending is 'we are going to be serious about requiring effective driver monitoring. And we intend to be serious about making sure these features are only engaged when they should be.'" Even though the recall isn't as aggressive as he would have hoped, Koopman said the recall improvements are "better than the status quo where the fatalities and injuries kept piling up."