Tesla is issuing a recall of 53,822 vehicles in the U.S. due to an experimental feature that may be dangerous.
The recall boils down to the removal of the ‘rolling stop’ feature in the optional Full Self Driving software package, introduced as a beta feature in October 2021. Tesla will disable this functionality with an over-the-air software update.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (via CNBC), the feature may allow vehicles to travel through an all-way stop intersection without first coming to a stop. The recall covers 2016-2022 Model S and Model X vehicles, 2017-2022 Model 3 vehicles, and 2020-2022 Model Y vehicles.
Tesla did not comment on the recall, though the CNBC says the company said it was not aware of any warranty claims, crashes, injuries, or fatalities related to the recall as of Jan. 27.
The ‘rolling stop’ feature allows Tesla cars to autonomously go through all-way-stop intersections, though very slowly, at a maximum of 5.6 mph.
Full Self Driving is a set of features that brings Tesla cars closer to fully autonomous driving, though it’s currently released as a beta feature. And even though it’s quite expensive at $12,000, it’s only available to a limited number of qualified drivers, and Tesla does not currently offer fully autonomous driving.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who for practical purposes acts as the company’s media team, hasn’t made a comment on the recall, though he did recently say he’d be “shocked” if Tesla doesn’t “achieve full self driving safer than human (driving) this year.”