Tesla’s fix for Autopilot recall of more than 2 million vehicles criticized as ‘insufficient’ consumer reportfollowing a preliminary test.
Kelly Fankhauser, associate director of vehicle technology at the nonprofit organization, told TechCrunch that they’ve discovered it’s possible to cover the interior camera while using Autopilot. That means it could disable one of the two main ways cars monitor whether you’re paying attention to the road.
Additionally, Funkhouser said that when activating or using Autosteer, Autopilot’s flagship feature, outside of access-controlled highways, where Tesla claims the software is designed to said that they did not notice any difference.
The test was not comprehensive, but it showed that questions remain about Tesla’s approach to driver monitoring, the technology at the heart of the recall.
The group has a long history of critically evaluating both Tesla technology and vehicles, and plans to conduct more extensive testing in the coming weeks. Fankhauser said Consumer Reports has only received over-the-air software updates for the Model S sedan, so it has not yet evaluated other changes, such as more prominent visual warnings in the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV. .
Tesla has also added a suspension policy that disables Autopilot for a week if “inappropriate use” is detected, but Funkhouser said such a suspension policy did not occur for two drives lasting 15 to 20 miles each. He said he had not encountered any such situation.
The recall, announced last week, affects more than 2 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada and comes amid a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This product focuses on an autosteer feature designed to keep your car centered in its lane on access-controlled highways, even around curves.
Tesla tells drivers to keep their eyes on the road and keep their hands on the wheel while using Autosteer, and it monitors this through a combination of a torque sensor on the steering wheel and, in newer cars, an interior camera. But NHTSA said in a document released last week that it considers these checks “insufficient to prevent abuse.”
However, Tesla does not limit the use of Autosteer to access-controlled highways. Instead, drivers can activate Autosteer on other roads as long as certain basic conditions are met (such as visible lane markers). NHTSA said that as part of the recall, Tesla will add “additional checks when Autosteer is activated, when using the feature outside of controlled access highways, and when approaching traffic stops.” Ta.
Some owners feared this would mean Tesla would limit autosteer and limit it to controlled-access highways. Just like Ford and General Motors do with their Blue Cruise and Super Cruise systems. As the update began rolling out over the weekend, several opinions were shared in online forums. how to avoid it By disconnecting your Tesla’s cell phone or Wi-Fi radio.
But Funkhouser’s tests show that such drastic measures are clearly not necessary. In the release notes for the latest software update, Tesla says the camera “can determine driver inattention and issue an audio warning to remind you to keep your eyes on the road when Autopilot is engaged. “Now we can do that,” the company says, but the wording is the same as the company’s.Used to enable driver monitoring with interior cameras for the first time in 2021she points out. And dDespite what Tesla says, Release notes it is”[i]”Driver attentiveness requirements have been increased when using Autosteer and when approaching traffic lights and stop signs off-highway,” Funkhouser said, adding that these changes were not noticeable in preliminary testing. Ta. Part of the reason is that it’s hard to know exactly what Tesla means in the first place.
All of this makes it unclear whether or to what extent Tesla has changed the functionality of the driver’s attentiveness camera in the update. (NHTSA declined to comment, instead directing questions to Tesla, which disbanded its media department several years ago.)
“None of this is very prescriptive or explicit in terms of what they’re trying to do.” [change]”Funkhouser says.
