Elon Musk disgruntled when more than 500,000 Tesla cars were forced to recall because of the “fun” feature

Tesla is planning to recall more than 500,000 vehicles in the US that feature Boombox – a software update that allows drivers to play audio from the car’s speakers, which can be Tesla’s built-in audio, or human audio. use options, like a goat squeal, a jingle bell, or even a… fart sound if they want to. In the information section, Tesla says users should only use Boombox when the car is parked.

However, not everyone does, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says vehicles using Boombox while in motion can interfere with pedestrian warnings, ” increased risk of collision”.

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (FMVSS) set standards for pedestrian warning sounds for electric and hybrid vehicles, and prohibits manufacturers from “changing or modifying the vehicle’s ability to emits the sound of a pedestrian warning system (PWS),” NHTSA said.

Both the US and the EU require electric vehicles to sound at low speeds to prevent pedestrian accidents. PWS is a feature found on electric vehicles including hybrid models, whose purpose is to keep pedestrians safe by emitting a sound alerting them to the vehicle’s presence. Traditional petrol and diesel vehicles do not require this system because they naturally generate enough noise for people to notice.

“The sounds emitted by the Boombox can interfere with the PWS,” NHTSA added.

On Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that the “fun police” forced the company to recall the vehicle, along with a sigh.

“Fun police”, or “fun police” is a word that refers to a person or group of people that causes others to stop a party for any reason, usually because of jealousy or hatred, but sometimes because of the fun. is against the law, similar to the “spelling police” commonly used online.

This recall covers more than 579,000 vehicles, including some Tesla Models X, S and Y vehicles from 2020 to 2022, as well as from 2017 to 2022 Model 3. This is the fourth time in the past few weeks that Tesla has announced the recall. car return.

Violation of the Boombox feature is also expected to be fixed with a free software update, which will disable the feature while driving, entering N, and reversing.

The recall letter will be sent to owners of all 578,607 vehicles, but it is still hoped that all of these vehicles will have the Boombox software update before the mail is sent on April 5.

Reference: Independent