Tesla is having to “recall” over 2 million vehicles, but again, the fix is just a software update and this time, it’s about font sizes. Seriously.
I opened the Wall Street Journal today, and bang: Tesla recalls millions of vehicles over latest safety flaw:
Millions of vehicles? Safety flaw? Oh lord, this seems like a big deal, but then I remembered it’s the Wall Street Journal, and they like to scare you about the smallest software updates possible. This is one of those cases.
NHTSA issued a recall notice for all Tesla vehicles due to the font size of its warning light indicators:
A visual warning indicator whose letter font size is smaller than 3.2 mm (1/8 inch), as prescribed in FMVSS Nos. 105 and 135, could reduce the driver’s detection of it when illuminated, increasing the risk of a collision.
Tesla hacker Green was able to extract the new indications (below) to compare them with the old ones (top)
Top comment by AModel3Owner
As someone with aging eyes, this is not as minor of an issue as you are playing it.
Agree that the use of the term "Recall" is loaded, but that's the legal definition even for mandatory software updates. For other manufacturers software updates may roll out as physical recalls.
More useful would be an indication of what the cost to the manufacturer is, whether customer action is required and how long it will take to effect the recall, but we are talking about media companies that get perversely rewarded for writing headlines that are controversial and/or alarming so this is what we end up with. electrek is not immune to this.
This is already in the latest Tesla update (2023.44.30.13) and if you received it, you probably haven’t noticed that this very serious “safety flaw” has been fixed.
Electrek’s Take
We really need a new word other than “safety recall” for those because media like the Wall Street Journal are really abusing them.
It’s starting to have no meaning now and we will take the more serious ones less seriously.
Maybe: regulatory compliance update? Suggestions are welcomed in the comment section.
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