Tesla issues another ‘recall’ that is fixed with software update
Tesla issued another “safety recall,” a term the company doesn’t like because the recall didn’t require a physical recall of the 30,000 vehicles affected. An over-the-air software update was the fix.
Earlier this year, NHTSA issued a series of recalls on Tesla vehicles that were highly reported in the media.
What was less reported, though, is that almost all of those recalls were fairly simple software issues that Tesla has been able to fix through over-the-air software updates.
Whenever there’s a safety-related issue, NHTSA has to issue a “safety recall,” even if the automaker doesn’t have to physically recall any vehicle, which leads to some confusion.
Again last month, a Tesla recall of “1 million vehicles” made many headlines when the recall simply consisted of Tesla changing how its software handled window operations. These instances have led Tesla CEO Elon Musk to complain about the term “recall” and how it is being used against Tesla by the media.
We get another example today of such “recall.” NHTSA released a voluntary recall notice from Tesla for about 30,000 Model X vehicles related to airbag deployment behavior for small children in the front seat:
On certain 2021-2023 Model X vehicles, the restraint control module (RCM) calibration may result in the frontal passenger airbag deploying in an unintended configuration during certain low-speed collision events. This may result in noncompliance with FMVSS 208, Sections 21.4 and 23.4, when a 3- or 6-year-old front passenger, respectively, is unbelted and out of position.
According to the recall notice, Tesla started pushing an over-the-air software update to fix the issue earlier this week:
In a low-speed collision event where a 3- or 6-year-old front passenger is unbelted and out of position, the remedy OTA firmware update ensures that the frontal passenger airbag complies with FMVSS 208, Sections 21.4 and 23.4, whereas a firmware release without the remedy does not ensure compliance.
Here’s the chronology of the recall:
- On October 18, 2022, Tesla conducted a pre-scheduled Conformity of Production test to confirm compliance with FMVSS 208 on a current production Model X vehicle. In the test, the vehicle restraint system deployment logic did not operate as designed.
- On October 25, 2022, additional tests were conducted to confirm the results of the test conducted on October 18, 2022.
- Between November 2 – 7, 2022, based on the results of two prior tests, Tesla conducted out of position confirmatory tests to assess compliance with FMVSS 208, Sections 21, 23, and 25.
- On November 8, 2022, test results were analyzed, and non-compliance was verified with Sections 21.4 and 23.4. A voluntary recall determination was made on the same day.
- As of November 8, 2022, Tesla is not aware of any warranty claims, field reports, crashes, injuries, or deaths related to this condition.
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Is Nissan raising the red flag? Nissan is now asking suppliers to delay payments, sparking concern over the automaker’s future.
Nissan asks supplier to delay payments to free up cash
As part of its recovery plan, Nissan announced in May that it plans to cut 20,000 jobs, or around 15% of its global workforce. It’s also closing several factories to free up cash and reduce costs.
According to several emails and company documents (via Reuters), Nissan is working with its suppliers to delay payments.
“They could choose to be paid immediately or opt for a later payment,” Nissan said. The company explained in a statement to Reuters that it had incentivized some of its suppliers in Europe and the UK to accept more flexible payment terms, at no extra cost.
The emails show that the move would free up cash for the first quarter (April to June), similar to its request before the end of the financial year.
One employee said in an email to co-workers that Nissan was asking suppliers “again” to delay payments. The emails, viewed by Reuters, were exchanged between Nissan workers in Europe and the United Kingdom.
Nissan is taking immediate action as part of its recovery plan, aiming to turn things around, the company said in a statement.
“While we are taking these actions, we aim for sufficient liquidity to weather the costs of the turnaround actions and redeem bond maturities,” the company said.
Nissan didn’t comment on the internal discussions, but the emails did reveal it gave suppliers two options. They could either delay payments at a higher interest rate, or HSBC would make the payment, and Nissan would repay the bank with interest.
The company had 2.2 trillion yen ($15.2 billion) in cash and equivalents at the end of March, but it has around 700 billion yen ($4.9 billion) in debt that’s due later this year.
As part of Re:Nissan, the Japanese automaker’s recovery plan, Nissan looks to cut costs by 250 billion yen. By fiscal year 2026, it plans to return to profitability.
Electrek’s Take
With an aging vehicle lineup and a wave of new competition from China, such as BYD, Nissan is quickly falling behind.
Nissan is launching several new electric and hybrid vehicles over the next few years, including the next-gen LEAF, which is expected to help boost sales.
In China, the world’s largest EV market, Nissan’s first dedicated electric sedan, the N7, is off to a hot start with over 20,000 orders in 50 days.
The N7 will play a role in Nissan’s recovery efforts as it plans to export it to overseas markets. It will be one of nine new energy vehicles, including EVs and PHEVs, that Nissan plans to launch in China.
Can Nissan turn things around? Or will it continue falling behind the pack? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Ford has long been rumored to be in discussions with Tesla about licensing its Full Self-Driving technology, but CEO Jim Farley has now shut down those rumors.
Farley confirmed that Ford talked with Tesla, but he believes Waymo has a better solution.
Back in 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned that he had early discussions with other automakers about licensing self-driving technology, but these discussions didn’t lead to any agreements.
In 2023, the CEO announced that Tesla would be open to licensing Autopilot and FSD to other automakers.
However, a few months later, Musk said “automakers don’t believe Tesla Full Self-Driving is real”, but he claimed they will soon.
In 2024, Musk claimed that Tesla was in discussions with “one major automaker about licensing Full Self-Driving.”
Ford was rumored to be the automaker in question due to its limited effort in autonomous driving and the fact that it was the first automaker to initiate the adoption of Tesla’s charge connector as the new North American standard.
The rumors might have been true, as CEO Jim Farley confirmed that Ford was in talks with Tesla about self-driving during a talk at the Aspen Ideas Festival last week.
He said that he talked with Musk and admitted that both Waymo and Tesla have made progress toward self-driving, but he sees LIDAR, which Waymo uses but Tesla does not, as a critical part of self-driving.
Farley was directly asked what approach made more sense (via Fortune):
“To us, Waymo,” Farley said. He pointed out that both Waymo, owned by Google-parent Alphabet, and Tesla “have made a lot of progress” on self-driving, and Farley acknowledged that he has had conversations with Elon Musk. But he stated that Ford considered LiDAR to be an important part of the picture, noting that “where the camera will be completely blinded, the LiDAR system will see exactly what’s in front of you.”
Ford invested approximately $1 billion in Argo AI, a self-driving startup in partnership with Volkswagen. However, it ceased funding the company in 2022, and Argo AI was subsequently dissolved, with the two automakers integrating their technology.
After this setback, Ford said it would partner with self-driving companies once the technology is further developed.
Waymo has first been focused on developing its own vehicles for autonomous ride-hailing, while Tesla has been trying to bring consumer autonomous vehicles to market.
These different approaches have been reversing lately with Tesla launching a pilot program for its own autonomous ride-hailing fleet after years of failing making its consumer vehicles self-driving.
Meanwhile, Waymo has recently been securing deals with Toyota and Hyundai about integrating its self-driving technology into their consumer vehicles.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla shareholders have been hoping for those talks that Musk has been teasing for years to come to fruition, and have an automaker validate Tesla’s approach to self-driving.
It looks like it won’t be Ford and it looks like Ford might have been that “one major automaker” in discussion with Tesla.
As Farley put it, they want to take a careful approach to self-driving, and if that’s your goal, Tesla might not be the best partner.
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