Tesla Recalls Autopilot After NHTSA Investigation

Physical agent · Level 2 driver assistance · Found first by third party

After a two-year NHTSA investigation, Tesla recalled about 2 million US vehicles with Autosteer because its driver engagement controls allowed foreseeable misuse. The federal regulator, not Tesla, found the driver monitoring control inadequate, and the fix was a software update Tesla filed while disputing the finding.

Timeline of Tesla Recalls Autopilot After NHTSA Investigation: Aug 2021, NHTSA opens Autopilot probe; Jun 2022, Probe upgraded to EA22-002; Dec 2023, Tesla recalls 2 million vehicles; Apr 2024, NHTSA questions the fix. Below, the reporting rules that applied: NHTSA defect and recall reports (Part 573), applied; NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01, applied. FROM INVESTIGATION TO REMEDY QUERY 2022 2023 2024 AUG 2021 NHTSA opens Autopilot probe JUN 2022 Probe upgraded to EA22-002 DEC 2023 Tesla recalls 2 million vehicles APR 2024 NHTSA questions the fix REPORTING RULES AND THIS INCIDENT NHTSA recall reports RECALL 23V-838 APPLIED NHTSA crash reporting LEVEL 2 CRASHES REPORTED APPLIED
Agent class
Physical
Developer
Tesla
Users
Tesla owners in the US
Found first by
Third party
Date
Dec 2023
Vehicles recalled
2,031,220

What happened

Autosteer Let Drivers Stop Paying Attention

  • Scope: Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y built from 2012 to 2023.
  • Crash pattern: of 467 relevant crashes, 211 were frontal crashes an attentive driver had time to avoid.
  • Misuse: NHTSA called the misuse foreseeable, a gap between what drivers expected and what the system could do.
  • Follow-up: query RQ24-009 is checking whether the remedy works.

Timeline

Two Years From Investigation to Recall

Timeline
DateEventSource
August 13, 2021NHTSA opens PE21-020 into Autopilot crashes with stopped emergency vehiclesNHTSA
June 8, 2022The probe is upgraded to engineering analysis EA22-002NHTSA
December 12, 2023Tesla files recall 23V-838 covering 2,031,220 vehiclesNHTSA
April 25, 2024NHTSA closes EA22-002 and opens RQ24-009 on the remedyNHTSA

Controls that failed

Driver Monitoring Did Not Match the System's Reach

Controls that failed
ControlCompanyWhat failed137AI page
Driver engagement monitoringTeslaControls did not keep drivers attentive and did not match how easily Autosteer could be engagedHuman Oversight
Remedy effectivenessTeslaNHTSA opened a query on whether the recall fix was enoughMonitoring and Anomaly Detection

Reporting

The Recall Rule Applied; the Regulator Drove It

Reporting rules and this incident
RuleStatusWhy
NHTSA defect and recall reports (Part 573)AppliedTesla filed recall 23V-838 for 2,031,220 vehicles
NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01AppliedLevel 2 crash reporting was in force during the review period

Every rule tracked is on Incident Reporting Rules and Registries.

Response

An Over-the-Air Fix, Then a Query on Whether It Worked

  • Regulators and courts: NHTSA opened PE21-020 in August 2021, upgraded it to EA22-002 in June 2022 and closed it in April 2024 after reviewing 956 crashes, opening RQ24-009 on whether the fix worked. No penalty.
  • Remediation: A free over-the-air update added stronger alerts and suspends Autosteer for drivers who keep ignoring warnings. Tesla agreed to the recall while disputing NHTSA's analysis.

Record

Incident Record

Incident ID
2023-12-TESLA-AUTOPILOT-RECALL
Sources
NHTSA recall 23V-838 (December 2023); NHTSA EA22-002 closing report (April 2024); CNBC (April 2024)
Last verified
October 2026