AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)02/17 Report--

On February 16, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a notice that Tesla applied for a recall of 362758 American vehicles, involving some 2016-2023 Model X (production time: September 9, 2016-January 9, 2023), 2016-2023 Model S (production time: November 9, 2016-January 15, 2023), and 2017-2023 Model 3 (production time: July 16, 2017-January 18, 2023). 2020-2023 Model Y (production time: January 13, 2020-January 31, 2023).

According to the report, the above recalled vehicles are self-driving vehicles, all equipped with fully automatic driving (FSD) Beta software or waiting for the software to be installed, and the FSD Beta system may allow vehicles to do unsafe behavior around intersections, such as going straight through intersections in turn-only lanes, entering intersections controlled by stop signs without stopping completely, or entering intersections where it is not appropriate to enter. I don't pay due attention to the yellow traffic lights. In addition, the system may not be able to fully respond to changes in the speed limit, or may not fully take into account the driver's adjustment to the speed of the vehicle to overspeed, thus increasing the risk of collision. To this end, NHTSA asked Tesla to solve the problem free of charge through wireless software updates by April 15. Tesla disagreed with NHTSA's analysis, but issued a recall announcement out of "careful consideration".

Musk responded on Twitter on the 16th that, in line with previous recalls, the recall does not require owners of the affected vehicles to go to dealers, but can be resolved only through wireless software updates. Therefore, Musk said on Twitter on the 16th that the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) used the word "recall" to describe Tesla's updated data is completely wrong. Musk believes that the terminology of NTHSA is outdated and inaccurate, and suggests that NHTSA should keep pace with the times and stop calling OTA software updates a "recall" because it is not a physical recall. In this case, the use of "recall" will put a burden on car owners and have a negative impact on the enterprise, but in fact no one is injured.

In 2014, when Tesla launched the autopilot system (Autopilot, later renamed as autopilot), tens of thousands of Model S owners woke up to find that after the OTA upgrade, they could automatically accelerate and decelerate according to the traffic flow in front of them on the highway and complete automatic lane change. After that, Musk's promotion of Tesla's autopilot became more aggressive, saying in 2016 that "full autopilot is coming." In 2020, Tesla launched FSD Advanced fully automatic Auxiliary driving, which can automatically change lanes, enter and exit highways, identify traffic lights and traffic signs, and stop a full set of driving operations. Over the next two years, Tesla provided tests to thousands of car owners, who could choose to pay a lump sum of $15000 or a monthly subscription fee of $199.

However, despite the word "fully autonomous driving", whether it is the previous Autopilot or the current FSD, the FSD theoretically belongs to the L2 + ADAS (Advanced Auxiliary driving), rather than the literal fully autopilot (equivalent to the L4 level). Of course, Tesla also clearly stressed on the official website that FSD is not a fully autopilot system, and that both systems "require the driver to remain fully focused, put his hand on the steering wheel, and be ready to take over the vehicle at any time."

Tesla's assisted driving technology is forward-looking, but the controversy it brings is also huge. In recent years, the number of Tesla Autopilot accidents has been increasing, especially several tragic accidents in which Autopilot led Tesla directly into a road barrier or a large truck, resulting in a car crash, explosion and fire, which gradually attracted the attention of regulators.

In June 2022, NHTSA announced that in the 10 months of its investigation, there had been 392 suspected advanced driving assistance (ADAS) accidents in the United States, of which 273 involved Tesla's Autopilot, FSD and related functions. Therefore, NHTSA decided to expand the scope of the investigation to 830000 Tesla trams equipped with Autopilot, requiring Tesla to submit specific operation data.

On November 24, 2022, a serious eight-car rear-end collision occurred in the tunnel of the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland. Nine people were injured and taken to hospital, but fortunately there were no serious casualties. Surveillance video shows that the car that caused a series of rear-end collisions was a Model S, when the traffic flow was at peak in the Yerba Buena tunnel. The Tesla first turned on the turn signal and changed lane into the inside fast lane, and then suddenly stopped. The speed dropped directly to zero from more than 120km. As a result, the vehicles behind had no time to dodge, rear-end collisions collided one after another, and some cars were even squashed on the tunnel parapet wall.

According to media reports, the driver of the car that caused the accident told the police that Model S was driving in a state of FSD at that time. It is worth mentioning that just a few hours before the accident, Musk announced that the FSD Beta function would be officially available to US users, and all users who previously paid $15000 for the feature could use the "fully autopilot" feature, which made Tesla's FSD once again face safety questions. Subsequently, the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an investigation into the suspected FSD accident.

Of course, the most intuitive manifestation is that despite the negative news about Tesla's autopilot, the capital market pays more attention to Tesla's car delivery volume, net profit, and Musk's optimistic outlook for the company's growth. Affected by the recall, Tesla's u.s. stocks plunged all the way in intraday trading, closing down 5.69% and losing $38.6 billion (about 264.8 billion yuan) in market value. However, Tesla's share price hit a new low of $101.81 in January, compared with the latest share price of $202.04, which has doubled making Mr Musk likely to regain his title as the world's richest man.

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