Tesla has been the subject of a lot of media coverage due to a “massive recall” in China due to issues with regenerative braking. In reality, the “recall” of over 1.1 million Tesla cars in China is not a recall at all.
Reportedly, 1,104,622 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles manufactured between January 2019 and April 2023, as well as “some imported Model S, Model .”
This is described as a major safety risk and “can increase the likelihood of accidentally pressing the accelerator pedal for an extended period of time,” China’s state market regulator (SAMR) said (via CNN).
Again, this is more of a terminology issue, as Tesla’s “recall” will be resolved with an over-the-air update. Beyond that, it’s just the introduction of a regenerative braking feature, which we reported on last month.
On May 21, we reported that Tesla plans to reintroduce a previously phased-out regenerative braking mode.
Tesla used to offer two modes: “Low” and “Normal”, but has eliminated the “Low” mode on newer vehicle designs because “Normal” was the more efficient of the two options. This contributed to a savings in range and less wear on the brake components.
Tesla is reintroducing the “Low” regenerative braking mode in the US, and the “recall” in China is, to put it simply, the same thing.
The Chinese SAMR said:
“This recall was conducted as the state market regulator initiated an investigation. The companies under investigation, Tesla Motors (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Tesla (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. plan to use Vehicle Remote Upgrade (OTA) technology to drive newly developed features for vehicles as part of the recall. to reduce the number of cases caused by long-term deep-dive problems. When the accelerator pedal is pressed, there is a risk of collision due to excessive speed. Features include: (1) on vehicles that do not have a regenerative braking intensity selector, provide an option that allows the driver to select the regenerative braking intensity; (2) adjust the factory default state of the vehicle’s regenerative braking strategy; (3) A reminder will be issued if the driver depresses the accelerator pedal heavily for a long period of time.”
Tesla has been dealing with outdated recall terminology for a long time. CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly called for an update of what a “recall” is. However, OTA updates, which many automakers are adopting to reduce costs and increase convenience, are still technically considered a recall by some agencies, including the NHTSA.
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