Tesla recalls 363,000 EVs due to faulty software

Pras Subramanian (autos reporter at Yahoo Finance) explains Tesla’s recall for vehicles using Full Self-Driving software. He also identifies which models were affected.

Video Transcript

DAVE BRIGGS Tesla is now facing some serious problems. Tesla is recalling over 360,000 vehicles due to problems with its self-driving technology. To discuss is senior autos reporter Pras Subramanian. My friend, what are we hearing?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN This is a huge recall. For the complete FSD beta issues, 360,000 cars are available here. They are specifically referring to how cars can drive through intersections if they are in the turn-only lanes or through stop sign controlled intersections. Sometimes, the system doesn’t always keep track of speed limits posted on highways. It also doesn’t respond to users exceeding the speed limit. They want to correct this.

NHTSA warned that this could result in a crash. Tesla is therefore required to recall these vehicles. We say recall. It’s an OTA update software that will be applied to all these cars over time. This is a major issue. This is a– Software is a major profit driver for Tesla, from a margin perspective.

Yesterday’s Barclays note talked about how this is an important part of the business and that they are very bullish on it. This is a bit of a red flag for them. This was inevitable, as both the NTSA (and the DOJ) are currently investigating them for some of these issues. It is therefore not surprising that this recall is so large.

DAVE BRIGGS It is reminiscent of that Super Bowl commercial that the tech billionaire made to draw attention to self-driving.

SEANA SMITH Yeah, certainly. Stocks closed down almost 6% today, as you can see.