Europe does not plan recall of Teslas over Autopilot concerns

The Dutch vehicle authority, RDW, does not plan a Tesla recall in Europe after a major US recall last week due to concerns about its Autopilot driver assistance systems.

Among European vehicle authorities, the RDW issues the type, or general approval, for Tesla cars.

The agency cited differences between Autopilot functions available on the European and US markets and said it is in touch with Tesla.

Tesla is recalling more than 2-million vehicles in the US to install new safeguards to prevent the misuse of its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating the electric vehicle company headed by Elon Musk for more than two years over whether its systems adequately ensure drivers pay attention when using them.

Tesla said Autopilot’s software controls “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse”.

Acting NHTSA administrator Ann Carlson said earlier in 2023 that it is “important that driver-monitoring systems take into account that humans over-trust technology”.

Tesla said it will deploy an over-the-air software update that will “incorporate additional controls and alerts to those already existing on affected vehicles to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged”.

Autosteer is a component of Autopilot that maintains a set speed or following distance and works to keep a vehicle in its driving lane.

The agency opened an investigation in August 2021 into Autopilot after identifying more than a dozen crashes in which Tesla vehicles hit stationary emergency vehicles.

Reuters