The electric car itself may not be making any sounds, but its Boombox system can pose a serious threat to pedestrians and cyclists, NHTSA has ruled.
According to the association, many Tesla cars come with a customizable feature that enables drivers to imitate an internal combustion engine soundtrack or play back any other custom sound using an external loudspeaker – no restrictions. The latter can be abused to a certain extent, causing confusion and panic on the road and potentially leading to incidents.
The recall campaign concerns most Model S, X and Y vehicles made in 2020 through 2022 and Model 3 sedans dated 2017-2022. As usual with Tesla vehicles, ‘recall’ simply means an over-the-air update that all owners will receive automatically, eliminating the hassle of visiting a service center.