Tesla Recalls Millions Of Vehicles Over Autopilot Safety Issues

Autopilot comes standard on every new Tesla. It uses cameras to match vehicle speed with surrounding traffic and assists drivers with steering within clearly marked lanes.

Tesla has marketed higher-level functionality it calls FSD Beta since late 2016. That suite of features was recalled in February, after NHTSA raised concerns about Teslas using the system traveling in unlawful or unpredictable ways, including exceeding speed limits and not coming to complete stops.

NHTSA first conducted a defect investigation of Autopilot after a 2016 fatal crash, only to clear the system early the following year. Its two ongoing defect probes — initiated in August 2021 and February 2022 — were precipitated by Teslas crashing into first-responder vehicles and suddenly braking on highways.

The agency has opened more than 50 special crash investigations involving Tesla cars that are suspected to be linked to Autopilot, with the pace of probes picking up under the Biden administration.

“Tax credit will end for Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive and Model 3 Long Range on Dec. 31, 2023 based on current view of new IRA guidance. Take delivery by Dec. 31 for full tax credit,” the company said in a notice on its website.

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In April, the Treasury said new guidelines will slash the credits for the EV maker’s Model 3 RWD by half to $3,750 but that other Tesla models will retain the entire benefit.

In July, Tesla said the $7,500 federal tax credits for its Model 3 electric vehicles are likely to be reduced after Dec. 31, without elaborating on the reason.

The U.S. EV credit currently requires 50% of the value of battery components to be produced or assembled in North America to qualify for $3,750 of the credit and 40% of the value of critical minerals sourced from the United States or a country with which it has a free trade agreement.

Other carmakers such as Ford (F.N) and GM (GM.N) expect to qualify for the entire tax credits for many of their EVs from next year, while Volkswagen remains ‘cautiously optimistic’.

The automaker on Tuesday said all of its plants will be down the week of Dec. 25 for the contractual holiday break. Fort Wayne Assembly in Indiana, Factory Zero in Detroit, Spring Hill Manufacturing in Tennessee and Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, Canada, will stay off-line the following week for maintenance, a GM spokesperson said. All four plants are expected to resume production Jan. 8.

GM’s Lansing Grand River assembly plant in Michigan will be down the week of Jan. 2 in conjunction with the end of the sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro sports car. Chevy has said there is no immediate plan to replace the Camaro, which launched as a 2016 model, but that “this is not the end of Camaro’s story.” The Lansing plant will resume production Jan. 8, GM said.

Orion Assembly, north of Detroit, will remain idled for more than a year after it stops building the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV next week. The plant will then be retooled for electric pickups, but GM has pushed back the start of truck production at Orion until 2025.

GM said its Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri, which builds the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups, will be down the week of Dec. 18 because of a parts shortage. The automaker declined to reveal which part is affected but said the plant was expected to resume production Jan. 2.

The CAMI plant in Canada has been idled since October because of a battery module supply constraint. It’s expected to restart production of electric commercial vans for GM’s BrightDrop business in the spring.

The electric vehicle producer faces a backlash in the Nordic region from unions and some pension funds over its refusal to accept a demand from Swedish mechanics for collective bargaining rights covering wages and other conditions.

“This type of sympathy action is very rare. We are using it now to protect the Swedish collective agreements and the safety of the Swedish labour market model,” President of the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union, Tommy Wreeth, said in a statement.

“Tesla can’t ignore the norm on the Swedish labour market,” he added.

The strike will begin unless Tesla signs a collective bargaining agreement with Swedish union IF Metall, the Transport Workers’ Union said.