Tesla halts rollout of driver assistance software

Tesla has temporarily halted the deployment of its FSD beta driver assistance software in the United States and Canada, for which consumers paid $15,000, while it fixes flaws recently discovered by the regulator—we learned Monday.

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According to an advisory issued in mid-February, the US Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) said software errors could cause vehicles to operate in dangerous ways at intersections.

Tesla will therefore need to update the software in 362,758 cars that are equipped or planned to receive it.

And “until a software version containing the changes is available, we have paused the FSD beta for all those who have subscribed to it, but (have) not yet received it,” Tesla said in a statement published on its website. On an undetermined date, but noted Monday by American media.

From the end of 2020, the manufacturer is gradually releasing this test version of FSD (Full Self-Driving) called FSD Beta. In January, Tesla estimated that by the end of 2022 the FSD had been delivered to nearly all customers who purchased it in the United States and Canada, or about 400,000 people.

The driver assistance systems offered by Tesla are under the attention of American authorities, who have launched various investigations into their capabilities, or the words the company uses to praise their merits.

Officially, Tesla says these systems are “designed for the alert driver with their hands on the wheel and ready to regain control of their vehicle at a moment’s notice.”

But his boss, Elon Musk, regularly goes too far, saying for years that fully autonomous driving is a matter of months, especially on Teslas.