From some of the media headlines it would seem that Elon Musk's TESLA automobiles are a danger to the road and all 2,000,000 of them produced have to go into shops to be repaired.
This is far from the truth. The fix will be software, transmitted to the car via cellular data networks, and will fix the autopilot issue.
What is worrisome to me is that reports almost seem to be coordinated. Which begs the question, why?
This is far from the truth. The fix will be software, transmitted to the car via cellular data networks, and will fix the autopilot issue.
What is worrisome to me is that reports almost seem to be coordinated. Which begs the question, why?
Media Launches Attacks On Tesla In Apparent Bid To Damage Elon Musk
Ryan SaavedraDec 13, 2023
Mainstream news organizations mounted attacks against Tesla on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to damage Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also heads several other large companies.
The primary attack centered around a so-called “recall” that Tesla had to issue to nearly every vehicle that it has sold in the U.S. since 2012, more than two million overall. The move comes after U.S. regulators have looked into the company’s Autopilot system and its role in some accidents that have happened across the U.S. over the last several years.
A report from The New York Times was emblematic of the way that the media covered the story as the newspaper claimed that Tesla’s “reputation for making technologically advanced cars suffered a blow” as a result of the recall.
It wasn’t until deep in the Times’ report that the newspaper informed readers that the “recall” was not really a recall in the traditional sense, i.e. customers have to schedule a time to bring their vehicle to a Tesla facility to be serviced.
Instead, the world’s leading electric car manufacturer is automatically sending out wireless updates to all of its cars through cellular networks that will include updates that will hopefully satisfy regulators, including new warnings and checks to ensure that drivers are paying attention on the road.
Tesla cites data that it says show its Autopilot system, while it may have been involved in some accidents, actually makes its vehicles safer and says that it is “morally indefensible not to make these systems available to a wider set of consumers, given the incontrovertible data that shows it is saving lives and preventing injury.”
“In the 4th quarter of 2022, we recorded one crash for every 4.85 million miles driven in which drivers were using Autopilot technology,” Tesla said in a statement. “For drivers who were not using Autopilot technology, we recorded one crash for every 1.40 million miles driven. By comparison, the most recent data available from NHTSA and FHWA (from 2021) shows that in the United States there was an automobile crash approximately every 652,000 miles.” . . . STORY CONTINUES AT THE LINK ABOVE
