Authorities are sounding the alarm because of the function that can play sounds through the external speaker and block the pedestrian warning system.
Tesla recalls nearly 579,000 vehicles in the U.S. as a “Boombox” function can play sounds through an external speaker and block the pedestrian warning system
The withdrawal is the fourth to be made public in two weeks as US safety regulators step up control of the country’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer. In two of the withdrawals, Tesla has made decisions that violate federal motor vehicle safety standards, while the others are software errors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website that cars and SUVs have what Tesla calls a “Boombox” feature, which allows drivers to make sounds as vehicles move. This violates federal safety standards that require pedestrian warning noises for electric cars, which make little noise when traveling, the agency says.
The problems do not stop for Tesla
The agency says the problem will be fixed with an over-the-air software update that will disable “Boombox” on the fly, reverse or neutral.
“Boombox functionality allows a customer to play preset or customized sounds through the PWS external speaker, a pedestrian warning system, when the vehicle is parked or moving,” says NHTSA in documents posted on its website.
“While Boombox and the pedestrian alert sound are mutually exclusive sounds, sounds made using Boombox could be interpreted as hiding or preventing PWS from complying with safety standards,” the agency wrote.
The recall covers certain Tesla Model X, S and Y vehicles from 2020 to 2022, as well as models 3 from 2017 to 2022, according to records.
The company is not aware of any accidents or injuries due to the problem, NHTSA said.
