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DETROIT (AP) – Tesla is recalling about 579,000 vehicles in the US because a “Boombox” function can play sound from an external speaker and hide audible alerts for pedestrians.
The recall is the fourth public recall in the past two weeks as US safety regulators step up scrutiny of the nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer. In two of the recalls, Tesla made decisions that violated federal motor vehicle safety standards, while the others were software bugs.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website Thursday that cars and SUVs have a function Tesla calls a “Boombox” that allows drivers to play sounds while the vehicles are in motion. The agency says this violates federal safety standards that require pedestrian warning sounds for electric cars that make very little noise when traveling.
The agency says the problem will be fixed with a wireless software update that will disable “Boombox” in drive, reverse or neutral.
“The Boombox functionality allows a customer to play preset or custom sounds through the PWS (pedestrian warning system) external speaker while the vehicle is parked or in motion,” NHTSA says in the documentation published on its website. “While boombox and pedestrian warning sound are mutually exclusive sounds, sounds emitted using Boombox can be interpreted as impeding or preventing PWS from complying with safety standards,” the agency wrote.
According to the records, the recall covers Tesla Model X, S and Y vehicles from 2020 to 2022, as well as Model 3s from 2017 to 2022.
On Thursday, a message was left from Tesla, which disbanded its media relations department, seeking comment. NHTSA said the company was not aware of any accidents or injuries due to the problem.
NHTSA said in documents that Tesla enabled Boombox in December 2020 with a software update. The agency began seeking information from Tesla in January of 2021, and Tesla announced the feature and claimed it complied with US safety standards. In September of 2021, NHTSA launched an investigation into this feature. A month later, Tesla defended its justification for determining that the Boombox complies with safety standards. But on January 29 of this year, the company decided to recall it and disable the Bombbox in drive, neutral and reverse.
NHTSA said in 2010 that Congress required electric and hybrid vehicles to make pedestrian warning sounds. The law required agency rules to stop manufacturers from allowing anyone other than an automaker or dealer to “disable, modify, alter, or replace the pedestrian warning sound or group of sounds.”
Tuesday’s recall is the 15th by Tesla since January 2021, according to NHTSA records. In addition to this, the security agency has launched multiple investigations into Teslas.
Last week, Tesla had to recall nearly 54,000 vehicles equipped with “Full Self-Driving” software, which allows vehicles to pass stop signs at low speeds without coming to a complete stop. Selected Tesla owners are “beta-testing” the software on public roads, but the cars cannot drive themselves, despite the name.
The company also had to recall more than 800,000 vehicles because seat belt reminder sounds may not be heard when vehicles are started and the driver’s seat belt is not fastened. And this week, nearly 27,000 vehicles have been recalled because cabin heating systems may not be able to defrost the windshield fast enough. All would be fixed with online software updates.
Safety advocates and automated vehicle experts say Tesla was pushing the boundaries of safety to see what it could get away with, but now NHTSA is backing down.
Also, following an NHTSA investigation in December, Tesla disabled a function that allows drivers to play video games on the center touchscreens while vehicles are in motion.
In November, NHTSA said it was investigating a California Tesla driver’s complaint that “Full Self-Driving” software had caused an accident. The driver complained to the agent that a Model Y had entered the wrong lane and was hit by another vehicle. The SUV warned the driver halfway through the turn, and the driver tried to steer to avoid other traffic, according to the complaint. However, the driver reported that the car took control and “forced himself into the wrong lane”. No one was injured in the crash on 3 November.
NHTSA is also investigating why Teslas, which use the company’s less advanced “Autopilot” partially automatic driver assistance system, repeatedly crash into emergency vehicles parked on the roads. The agency opened the investigation in August, citing 12 crashes in which Teslas crashed into police and fire engines parked on Autopilot. At least 17 people were injured in the accidents within the scope of the investigation, and one person died.
Last week, Tesla said in its earnings release that its “Full Self-Driving” software is currently being owner-tested in about 60,000 vehicles in the United States. It was just around 2,000 in the third quarter. The company said the software, which costs $12,000, will accelerate Tesla’s profitability.
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