Federal regulators pressed the automaker to make updates to ensure drivers are paying attention while using Autopilot, a system that can steer, accelerate, and brake on its own.
By Jack Ewing, Cade Metz and Derrick Bryson Taylor, New York Times
Tesla’s reputation for making technologically advanced cars suffered a blow on Tuesday when the company, under pressure from regulators, recalled more than two million vehicles. U.S. officials said the automaker had not done enough to ensure that drivers remained attentive when using a system that can steer, accelerate, and brake cars automatically.
The recall by Tesla, the world’s dominant maker of electric vehicles, was its fourth in less than two years and the most significant to date. It covers nearly all cars the company has manufactured in the United States since 2012, including its most popular, the Model Y sport-utility vehicle.
Tesla accounts for about half of the electric passenger cars sold in the United States, but its market share has been slipping as General Motors, Hyundai, Ford Motor and other automakers have begun selling electric models. In addition, recent public statements by Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, have been widely interpreted as antisemitic and offended some customers. The recall amounts to another dent in the company’s image.
“There’s no question” that the company’s brand “has taken a hit this year,” Gary Black, managing partner of the Future Fund, who is generally positive about Tesla, said on the social media site X, which is owned by Mr. Musk.
The recall follows an investigation into Tesla’s driver-assistance system, Autopilot, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began in August 2021 after a series of accidents, some fatal, involving the technology. Autopilot is designed to control vehicles on its own when on highways. Tesla’s owners’ manuals tell drivers that they should keep their hands on the wheel and take over if anything goes wrong.
The recall reflects regulators’ concern that Tesla did not do enough to prevent drivers from misusing the system, including by turning it on while they travel local roads and by becoming distracted because they assumed that their car could drive itself.
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