by Mike Gulett –
There is bad news for both Ferrari and Tesla this week although the bad news is different for each.
Ferrari Recall
Ferrari notified the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a recall and (NHTSA) has acknowledged this recall;
The brake fluid reservoir cap may not vent properly, creating a vacuum inside the brake fluid reservoir, and resulting in a brake fluid leak that may lead to a partial or total loss of brake function.
The number of Ferraris impacted could be as many as 23,555, which may be all the cars they made over the past 17 years.
How many of these have been recalled?
They go on to explain;
A loss of brake function can increase the risk of a crash.
This does not sound good since most Ferrari go fast and the driver expects it to stop fast too.
You can read the NHTSA letter here.
Tesla Troubles
Tesla is being accused by the State of California of making misleading and untrue statements about Tesla’s Autopilot and the Full Self-Driving feature.
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said Tesla misled customers by claiming in advertisements that vehicles equipped with its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability programs were autonomous.
The California DMV sites an example of what Tesla’s Autopilot webpage claims Full Self-Driving can do:
All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go. If you don’t say anything, your car will look at your calendar and take you there as the assumed destination. Your Tesla will figure out the optimal route, navigating urban streets, complex intersections and freeways.
In my reading of the Tesla Autopilot webpage I did not see this language but instead more subdued claims by Tesla. Perhaps the Tesla lawyers have taken control of this webpage now. With the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, having a large and uncontrolled bullhorn it would be wise for the lawyers to insert themselves in public communications.
Tesla’s licenses to make and sell vehicles in California could be suspended or revoked if they lose this one. But more likely that will not happen – as a DMV spokes person wrote to the LA Times,
the DMV will ask that Tesla will be required to advertise to consumers and better educate Tesla drivers about the capabilities of its ‘Autopilot’ and ‘Full Self-Driving’ features, including cautionary warnings regarding the limitations of the features, and for other actions as appropriate given the violations.
Read more at the Los Angeles Times.
Tesla Autopilot
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
I think the Tesla problem is more semantics; Elon Musk insisting on using the phrase Full Self Driving.FSD and charging $12,000 for this option. When, in fact, it is not “Full.” It encounters some situations where it is befuddled and the human driver has to take over. If he had renamed it something more benign and less boastful like “Driver Assist Cruise Aid” then drivers wouldn’t expect so much, and learn never to completely turn the reins over to the horse. ( am in the horse field and that’s something you never do)
Musk is incredibly stubborn, and now the government is going to investigate. Cadillac has a similar option, not capable of matching FSD but theirs is not marketed as a set-the-course nd let the car take over as FSD is. The forthcoming 2023 LYRIQ, available Super Cruise™ is the first true hands-free driving-assistance technology for compatible roads (2022 XT6 late availability).Note that “compatible roads” terminology, meaning roads already mapped by Cadillac; GM not claiming it can work on unknown roads never mapped..
On the news, reported separate Tesla crashes on freeways where each accident involved a motorcycle where it is believed that the Tesla’s AI did not see the cyclists. Had the driver been in control it’s likely the accidents would not have occurred. Both accidents were fatalities.