Car stuff (public number: chedongxi)
Author | The Way
Edited | Mumi
According to foreign media reports, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) recently issued a recall notice for the safety of 578607 Tesla vehicles due to potential problems with the vehicle's Boombox function. The document said Boombox's voice-changing feature could cause vehicles to fail to meet pedestrian warning standards.
Because NHTSA censorship has become increasingly stringent, Tesla has issued ten recalls in the past four months.
On February 3, Tesla announced a recall of more than 817,000 vehicles in the United States because of software security issues, which is also the largest recall in the company's history.
First, the voice changer violates safety standards and requires the recall of more than 570,000 vehicles
The recalled vehicles cover the Model S in 2020-2022, the Model X in 2020-2022, the Model 3 in 2017-2022 and the Model Y in 2020-2022. These vehicles are equipped with external speakers that allow them to play different sounds while driving, and Tesla's Boombox feature also plays through the vehicle's external speakers.
NHTSA's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 141 (FMVSS 141) specifies the performance requirements for pedestrian alarm sounds in hybrid and electric vehicles. In addition, the standard prohibits manufacturers from altering or modifying the sound emitted by the Vehicle Pedestrian Alert System (PWS).
Teslas with firmware versions 2020.48.25 and later can use boombox in parking or driving and can play custom sounds through its PWS speakers. While the sounds emitted by Boombox and Tesla's PWS systems will be mutually exclusive, the custom sounds emitted using Boombox may be interpreted as obscuring or preventing PWS from complying with FMVSS 141 while the vehicle is driving.
▲ Tesla cars equipped with Boombox
Second, NHTSA conducted several horn investigations Tesla recalled the vehicle after discussion
As of December 24, 2020, boombox has been installed in Tesla-built vehicles as part of the 2020 holiday update. On January 15, 2021, NHTSA sent Tesla an investigation request to check whether the feature complies with FMVSS 141. Tesla responded to this information request on February 5, 2021, explaining that the feature complies with FMVSS 141.
In the months that followed, Tesla continued to respond to NHTSA's requests for more inquiries about Boombox, and also participated in a number of virtual meetings with NHTSA. Until September 9, 2021, NHTSA upgraded the investigation to a preliminary assessment (PE-141-210104) and asked Tesla for more information about Boombox's compliance with FMVSS 141, which Tesla responded on October 18, 2021.
On January 27 and 28, 2022, Tesla and NHTSA had more discussions about Boombox's compliance with FMVSS 141. Ultimately, Tesla decided to launch a voluntary "recall" of 578607 vehicles on January 29, 2022, which would disable boombox features in driving, neutral gear, and reversing. It is understood that Tesla will also use wireless software updates to solve the vehicle problem.
Third, NHTSA has clarified the remedy Tesla will deploy OTA firmware
The NHTSA Safety Recall Report provides an overview of the remediation section of the problem, and Tesla will deploy an OTA firmware version to the affected vehicles that disables the Boombox feature when the vehicle is in driving, neutral, and reversing.
The remedial firmware with version number 2021.43.101.2 will go into production on February 3, 2022. In February 2022, Remediation Firmware 2022.8 will deploy OTA on upcoming vehicles. Vehicles equipped with firmware version numbers 2021.43.101.2, 2022.8 or later do not need to be handled. Undelivered vehicles cannot be delivered to customers without firmware version 2021.43.101.2 or 2022.8 or later installed.
Tesla workers at work
Conclusion: Tesla's firmware update will not have much impact on users
For the frequent quality problems of Tesla vehicles, the company's CEO Musk has long foreseen. In an interview as early as February last year, Musk publicly admitted that once the company significantly expanded production capacity, the quality of Tesla's electric vehicles would be affected.
But the recall is more because the car's functional design is too personalized, and the voice changer affects the judgment of other vehicles and pedestrians on road safety.
The updated firmware should soon be able to disable the voice changer without much impact on the user.