Tesla Recalls Over 2 Million Vehicles

Tesla is recalling nearly all of its U.S.-built vehicles because some warning lights are too small. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a product recall for nearly 2.2 million electric vehicles as part of stepped-up scrutiny of the company, reports the Associated Press. Moreover, the agency has upgraded its 2023 investigation of Tesla steering problems to an engineering analysis, bringing it closer to a recall.

According to the agency, the font sizes for the brake, park, and antilock warning lights are smaller than federal safety standards require. It can be challenging to read critical safety information, making a crash more likely.

Based on documents posted Friday by the agency, updates will be made to the software for the warning lights via an online software update. It covers the 2012 through 2023 Model S, 2016 through 2023 Model X, the 2017 through 2023 Model 3, the 2019 through 2024 Model Y, and the 2024 Cybertruck.

Software updates have already begun to be released by Tesla, and owners will be notified by mail beginning March 30. During a routine safety compliance audit on Jan. 8, the NHTSA said it discovered the problem.

According to Tesla, three warranty claims might be related to the problem, but no crashes or injuries have been reported. NHTSA pressured Tesla to recall more than 2 million vehicles in December to install a software update and fix a defect in the system that's supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention while using Autopilot while driving.

Drivers will receive more warnings and alerts as a result of the update, according to documents. The recall was issued in the wake of a two-year investigation by NHTSA into a series of fatal crashes associated with the Autopilot partially automated driving system.

As a result of its investigation, the agency believes Autopilot's method of making sure drivers are paying attention may be insufficient and could lead to "foreseeable misuse of the system." The new controls and alerts will "further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility," the documents said.

Though the recall is a positive step, safety experts believe it doesn't address the underlying issue that Autopilot doesn't react to stopped cars. They claim that Tesla's driver monitoring system detects hands on the steering wheel and does not prevent drivers from checking out.

Tesla's website says that its Autopilot and "Full Self-Driving" systems cannot drive the vehicles. Hence, human drivers must always be prepared to intervene if necessary.