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Elon Musk’s Tesla Issues Recall For Almost All US Vehicles After Government Probe

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Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla filed a safety recall for over 2 million vehicles with federal regulators following a two-year investigation into the company’s autopilot feature, according to an announcement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Wednesday.

The Tesla recall covers 2.03 million vehicles, including the Model 3, Model Y, Model X and Model S, made between Oct. 5, 2012 and Dec. 7, 2023, over concerns with their autopilot feature enabling driver misuse through a lack of engagement while operating the vehicle, according to a document from the NHTSA. The recall covers nearly all Tesla vehicles in the U.S. and is one of many actions taken by the NHTSA around Tesla’s autopilot feature, with the agency contending that the feature’s name is misleading as drivers still have to be engaged during its use, according to The Associated Press.

“Over the past two years, NHTSA has been conducting an extensive investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot feature, which already led to a recall of its ‘Full Self Driving’ system,” the NHTSA said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Specifically, the investigation found that Tesla’s unique design of its Autopilot system can provide inadequate driver engagement and usage controls that can lead to foreseeable misuse of the system.”

To remedy the autopilot issues, Tesla will be releasing a free software update that can be downloaded over the air, with vehicle owners being notified through the mail by Feb. 10, 2023, according to the recall notice.

In February, Tesla issued a recall of nearly 363,000 vehicles over similar concerns related to the vehicles’ self-driving software, noting that it could allow vehicles to perform unsafe maneuvers like traveling straight through an intersection in a turn lane or not adhering to speed limits or stop signs.

“In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, and the driver does not maintain responsibility for vehicle operation and is unprepared to intervene as necessary or fails to recognize when Autosteer is canceled or not engaged, there may be an increased risk of a crash,” the recall notice states.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the DCNF.