On December 12th, North American time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent a letter to Tesla stating that due to insufficient control measures to prevent misuse and misoperation of the assisted driving system Autopilot, Tesla needs to recall 2.0312 million vehicles equipped with Autopilot, posing potential safety risks.
It is reported that the above-mentioned recalled vehicles include the 2012-2023 Model S, 2016-2023 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y. This recall involves almost all Tesla cars sold in the United States. Tesla will complete this recall through OTA (Online Update) and is expected to start after December 12th.
However, Tesla's stock price was not affected by this recall. On December 13th, North American time, Tesla fell more than 3% at one point, but then rebounded. As of the close of the day, it was quoted at $239.29, up 0.96%. Since the beginning of this year, Tesla's stock price has risen by over 94%.
In response, Gary Black, a Tesla investor and managing partner of The Future Fund, stated on public platforms that Tesla's OTA updates and NHTSA's "recall" have never had a more than one-day impact on Tesla's valuation or stock price, as the cost of Tesla's OTA updates is close to zero.
In addition, industry insiders have also stated that the reason for this recall is "harmless" for Tesla's assisted driving system.
It is reported that after Tesla's first fatal accident in 2016, NHTSA conducted a defect investigation into the Tesla Autopilot. Subsequently, the agency conducted investigations into over 50 suspected Tesla collision accidents related to Autopilot.
After years of investigation, the final reason for Autopilot's recall is that Tesla lacks the means to maintain driver engagement and cannot ensure that drivers still maintain sufficient attention when the system starts autonomous driving. In addition, FSD Beta (fully autonomous driving) may cause vehicles to engage in unsafe behavior near intersections, such as driving straight on lanes that can only turn, not stopping completely at intersections that require complete parking, or recklessly entering intersections when yellow lights are on.
Tesla's solution is to add additional controls and alarms through software updates to further help drivers take responsibility for safe driving.
NHTSA stated that it will continue to monitor the effectiveness of Tesla's subsequent recalls, and the investigation will continue.
In February this year, NHTSA announced that Tesla would recall up to 362758 vehicles equipped with fully automated driving test software or not yet installed, due to concerns about increasing the risk of collisions. Ultimately, Tesla also resolved this issue through OTA. In response to this recall, Tesla CEO Musk stated that NHTSA's use of the term "recall" is outdated and inaccurate. This is just a minor software update.
In May of this year, Tesla also launched a large-scale recall plan in the Chinese market. The vehicles recalled this time are almost the cumulative total sales of Tesla in China since 2019, because the single pedal mode can increase the probability of drivers accidentally stepping on the pedal. The recall was also resolved through OTA.
With the development of smart cars entering the deep waters, the boundary between car recalls and OTAs is constantly blurring. Previously, several Tesla car owners told First Financial reporters that this Tesla recall is more like a regular OTA upgrade. OTA has already become a common occurrence in smart cars. However, some car owners also believe that OTA upgrades cannot conceal the essence of the recall, and product defects are the only ones that trigger the recall.
There are already relevant regulations in China for automobile manufacturers to adopt OTA methods to eliminate defects in automotive products and implement recalls. According to the Notice on Further Strengthening the Supervision of Automotive Remote Upgrade Technology Recall issued by the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation, car manufacturers also need to develop a recall plan for OTA upgrade recalls, file it with the Quality Development Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and fulfill the main responsibility for recalls in accordance with the law.