Tesla is recalling 53,822 vehicles in the United States owing to a potentially harmful experimental feature.
The ‘rolling stop’ feature in the optional Full Self Driving software package, which was launched as a beta feature in October 2021, has been removed from the recall. With an over-the-air software update, Tesla will disable this feature.
The technology, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (via CNBC), may allow vehicles to pass through an all-way stop junction without coming to a complete stop. Model S and Model X vehicles from 2016 to 2022, Model 3 vehicles from 2017 to 2022, and Model Y vehicles from 2020 to 2022 are included in the recall.
Tesla declined to comment on the recall, while CNBC reports that as of Jan. 27, the firm was unaware of any warranty claims, collisions, injuries, or fatalities related to the recall.
Tesla cars can use the ‘rolling stop’ technology to drive themselves through all-way-stop intersections at a maximum speed of 5.6 mph.
Full Self Driving is a combination of features that takes Tesla cars closer to fully autonomous driving, though it is still in development. Even though it costs $12,000, it’s only available to a small number of certified drivers, and Tesla currently does not offer fully autonomous driving.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also serves as the firm’s public relations team, hasn’t commented on the recall, though he did recently say that he’d be “shocked” if the company didn’t “complete full self-driving safer than human (driving) this year.”