Elon Musk obviously not satisfied with the pressure National Highway Traffic Safety Administration put into Tesla to conduct the 11th recall in the US in just over three months.
Asked on Saturday by a Twitter follower what the good reason was recall a feature called Boomboxallowing people to play audio through the car’s speakerphone, the Tesla executive replied: “Happy cop made us do it (sigh).”
Tesla told NHTSA on 4 February that it will disable Boombox when its vehicle is driving, in the middle or vice versa, to comply with a required safety standard Electric Car to sound a warning to passers-by. In its recall report, the company said NHTSA requested information in January 2021 to investigate whether the feature complies with safety standards. Tesla decided to proceed with the voluntary recall after months of back and forth with the agency, according to the report.
Tesla shares fell as much as 3.1% to $833.66 before the start of normal trading on Monday. Shares are down 19% this year.
Musk has repeatedly clashed with US regulators, directing much of his anger at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He has said he has no respect for the SEC and has come up with mockery and profanity about the agency’s initials since it accused him of securities fraud in statements in August 2018. his about taking Tesla private.
During an April 2018 phone call, Musk interrupted the chairman of National Traffic Safety Board on a dispute regarding a fatal crash involving a Tesla operating on Autopilot.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into Autopilot in August, saying it will evaluate the technologies and methods Tesla uses to monitor and assist drivers and enforce their commitment to the system. . The poll was ended by about a dozen incidents in which Teslas on Autopilot collided with vehicles at the scene of the crash, including first responders.
Weeks after NHTSA opened its investigation, Tesla rolled out an over-the-air update to its cars that improved its ability to detect emergency vehicles and bypassed sending recall notices. NHTSA asked the company if it intends to file a safety recall, and if not, will provide a technical and legal explanation.
At the same time, NHTSA is also looking at Tesla’s plans to expand Full Self-Driving, or FSD, a controversially named set of features that still require drivers to keep their full attention on the wheel. Two of the 11 recalls Tesla has filed since October are FSD-related.
NHTSA’s action shows that regulatory pressure is growing on technology that Musk says played a key role in making Tesla the world’s most valuable automaker. The CEO tweeted in September that investors gave the company “significant credit” for its self-driving capabilities.
