Tesla this week agreed to release a remote update to 2 million vehicles aimed at improving driver attention when Autopilot is engaged, especially on surface roads with cross traffic and other hazards that driver-assist technology is not designed to detect. But the recall, the largest in Tesla's 20-year history, quickly drew condemnation from experts and lawmakers who said the new warnings and prompts were unlikely to address Autopilot's fundamental flaw: Tesla's failure to first limit where drivers could turn on Autopilot.
"I haven't seen Tesla or anyone defending Tesla come up with a reason why we should let people use [self-driving] on roads where there might be cross traffic. That's how a lot of crashes happen," said Matthew Wansley, a professor at New York's Cardozo School of Law who specializes in emerging automotive technologies.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a frequent Tesla critic, added: "This doesn't go far enough."
The recall comes more than two years after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched its first investigation into self-driving cars after a series of Teslas crashed into parked emergency vehicles. Since then, the agency said it has reviewed more than 900 crashes involving Autopilot. The agency found that Autopilot's critical Autosteer feature "may" have insufficient controls to "prevent driver abuse," including using the feature off controlled highways.
NHTSA said in the notice that Tesla did not agree with the agency's findings, but Tesla began sending remote software updates on Tuesday.
Blumenthal said regulators should have required more significant changes to the software, given its crash history. Days before the recall, The Washington Post published an investigation that found eight fatal or serious crashes on roads where Autopilot was not suitable. Tesla has repeatedly acknowledged in owner manuals, legal documents and communications with federal regulators that Autosteer is "intended for use on controlled highways" with "a median, clear lane markings and no cross traffic."
Blumenthal said: "Given the company's statements about how seriously it takes the entire recall system, and Elon Musk's comments, relying on self-enforcement is really problematic... They treat recalls as entertainment rather than enforcement, and when a car is about to hit a barrier or another car, or run off the road or hit a barrier, there should be more than just voluntary compliance."
Officials and lawmakers are concerned that NHTSA may be reluctant to take tougher measures against the automaker because of its cult following among consumers and outsized influence over the U.S. transition to electric vehicles, a priority for the Biden administration. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said its investigation into Autopilot is still open, and some Tesla critics hope the recall may not be NHTSA's final action.
NHTSA spokesperson Veronica Morales said in a statement: "Under the law, Tesla is now responsible for providing consumers with a remedy that fully resolves the safety defect at no cost."
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment Friday. Tesla responded to the Post's report on Autopilot crashes in a statement this week, saying it was "morally obligated" to continue improving its safety systems and saying it was "morally indefensible" not to make those features available to more consumers.
An investigation by The Washington Post found that Autopilot can be activated on a variety of roads with intersections, traffic lights and cross-traffic. A fatal car accident occurred when a self-driving Tesla rushed through a T-intersection and hit a couple who were watching the stars. Another incident involved a self-driving Tesla failing to recognize a semi-truck crossing the road.
As part of the recall, Tesla agreed to release a software update with new "controls and alerts" such as "extra checks" when drivers activate the feature off a controlled highway. The update will also suspend the driver's ability to use Autosteer if they repeatedly have their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel.
However, in its recall statement, the company did not say it would limit the technology to the so-called "Operational Design Domain" (ODD), an industry term for the specific locations and environments for which autonomous vehicles are designed. This means consumers can still use the feature outside of ODD, they just will encounter more alerts and precautions when using it.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a statement to The Post last week that verifying whether systems such as Tesla's Autopilot are used within ODD would be too complex and resource-intensive. It also expressed doubts that doing so would solve the problem.
Tesla critic Dan O'Dowd, who has pushed for a ban on Tesla software through his advocacy group Dawn Project, said Tesla's recall effort was unsuccessful.
"The right solution is to ban Tesla's flawed software, not force people to pay closer attention to it," he said in a statement. "NHTSA's recall misses the point that Tesla must address and fix the fundamental safety flaws in its Autopilot software to prevent more fatalities."
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Jennifer Homendy said she was pleased to see the agency taking action, even though it came seven years after the first known self-driving fatality.
"I'm glad they're taking action, but in the meantime people have died," Homendy said. "They need to verify that the changes being made are working." If it is a voluntary recall, how to verify it? "
NHTSA's Morales said the agency will test several Teslas at a vehicle center in Ohio to "evaluate the adequacy of the remedy."
Tesla and Musk have long argued that using the word "recall" is inappropriate for a fix released via a software update -- something that, in Musk's opinion, is "anachronistic." However, past recalls have been effective in forcing updates, otherwise there would be no recalls.
After the recall was announced on Wednesday, Tesla's stock price fell about 3%. But as investors realized that the recall would not have a significant impact on Tesla's business, the company's stock price ended the week more than 4% higher than when it began.
Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, said he doesn't expect the recall to stop Tesla from aggressively advancing Musk's vision of a fully autonomous future. "People are still going to use Autopilot," he said. "I don't think NHTSA is making the roads safer with these notices, and I don't think Tesla is going to... slow down its pursuit because of it." "
Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), whose district includes Palo Alto, Calif., home to Tesla's engineering headquarters, called the recall "jaw-dropping." She said even though the recall mainly just adds additional notifications to drivers, its role is to remind drivers that Autopilot is not as autonomous as the name suggests and should take it very seriously.
Homendy said her agency continues to see problems with Tesla's driver-assistance methods in fatal crashes involving Autopilot in Williston, Fla., Mountain View, Calif., and Delray Beach, Calif. Back in 2017, the NTSB recommended action to prevent drivers from activating Autopilot outside of design conditions.
Homendy is skeptical about voluntarily addressing the problem through warning bells or preventive inspections. Other automakers such as Ford, General Motors and Subaru also have driver-assist software in their vehicles, but Tesla crashes involving Autopilot have drawn repeated scrutiny from federal agencies.
"The NTSB didn't investigate all the other technologies we've seen but didn't find problems with, and we always thought there was a problem with Tesla," she said.