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Tesla ’s fix for itsAutopilot recallof more than 2 million vehicle is being call “ deficient ” byConsumer Reports , follow preliminary test .
Kelly Funkhouser , the nonprofit organization ’s associate director of vehicle technology , tells TechCrunch she discovered it ’s still potential to extend the cabin camera while using Autopilot , think drivers can neutralize one of the two main ways the car monitors if they are devote attending to the route .
What ’s more , Funkhouser says she did not remark any differences when activating or using Autopilot ’s flagship feature , Autosteer , outside of the keep in line - access main road where Tesla says the software is design to be used .
While the examination is n’t comprehensive , it shows questions stay on unanswered about Tesla ’s approach to driver monitoring — the technical school at the heart of the callback .
The group , which has along historyofcriticallyevaluating both Tesla’stechand itsvehicles , plans to do more extensive testing in the come weeks . Funkhouser suppose Consumer Reports has not yet evaluated other changes , like more spectacular ocular alerts on the Model 3 sedan chair and Model Y SUV , because it has only received the over - the - air computer software update on its Model S sedan .
Tesla also total a abeyance policy that will inactivate Autopilot for one hebdomad if “ improper exercise ” is detected , which Funkhouser said she did not encounter during two drives last between 15 and 20 miles each .
The recall , announce last hebdomad , affects more than 2 million cars in the U.S. and Canada and come in the middle of a two - year investigating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA ) . It concentre heavily on the Autosteer feature , which is plan to keep a car centered in a lane on controlled - access highways , even around curves .
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Tesla severalize drivers they must pay attending to the road and keep their hands on the steering wheel while using Autosteer , and monitors this through a combination of a torque detector in the steering wheel and , in its New cars , the in - cabin photographic camera . But NHTSA aver in document released last week that it viewed those tick as “ insufficient to prevent misuse . ”
Tesla does not curb the use of Autosteer to controlled - approach highways , though . Instead , drivers can activate Autosteer on other roads so long as sure base term are met ( like seeable lane markers ) . As part of the recollection , NHTSA said Tesla would be summate “ extra chip upon prosecute Autosteer and while using the feature outside control admittance highways and when approaching traffic command . ”
Some owners venerate this meant Tesla would limit Autosteer and restrict it to control - admittance highways — similar to how Ford and General Motors cover their respective Blue Cruise and SuperCruise system . As the update begin to roll out over the weekend , a few even shared thoughts in online forums onhow to deflect itby disconnect Tesla ’s cellular or Wi - Fi radio set .
But such drastic measuring rod apparently are n’t necessary , according to Funkhouser ’s trial run . While Tesla highlights in the most late software update ’s release notes that the camera “ can now see driver inattentiveness and allow for you with hearable alerts , to remind you to keep your eyes on the road when Autopilot is lock , ” that language is the same the company used when it first enable cabin camera driver monitoringin 2021 , she points out . And despite Tesla say in therelease notesthat it has “ [ i]ncreased the sternness of driver attentiveness requirements when using Autosteer and approaching dealings lights and stops sign off - main road , ” Funkhouser aver those changes were n’t noticeable in her preliminary examination — in part because it ’s intemperate to know precisely what Tesla intend to begin with .
All this hit it undecipherable if , or how much , Tesla modified the camera ’s power to supervise driver attentiveness in the update . ( NHTSA declined to comment , and instead directed interrogation to Tesla . Tesla disbanded its press section old age ago . )
“ None of this is very normative or denotative in terms of what it is they ’re going to [ change ] , ” Funkhouser says .
