On February 16, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Thursday that Tesla will recall as many as 362,758 vehicles equipped with the full self-driving beta software or not yet installed, because of concerns that it will increase the risk of crashes.

　　Tesla's stock price turned down after the news was announced, and it fell 5.7% to $202.04 by the end of the day. Its market value evaporated by $38.6 billion (about 264.8 billion yuan).

　　In response to this matter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded on social media, saying that the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration used the word "recall" to be "outrageously wrong", and this is not the first time he has complained like this.

　　Collision risk with fully autonomous driving systems

　　Tesla recalls more than 360,000 electric vehicles

　　Tesla is recalling 362,758 vehicles in the U.S. equipped with driver assistance software, known as Full Self-Driving Beta or FSD Beta, according to a recall notice issued Thursday.

A notice on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website indicates that the FSD Beta system may cause accidents.

　　According to reports, the recalled vehicles include Model S and Model X from 2016 to 2023, Model 3 from 2017 to 2023, and Model Y from 2020 to 2023, which have been installed or are being installed with FSD Beta.

　　NHTSA believes that the FSD Beta system may allow vehicles to engage in unsafe behavior around intersections, such as going straight through an intersection in a turn-only lane, entering an intersection controlled by a stop sign without coming to a full stop, or inadvertently entering an intersection controlled by a stop sign. Entering the intersection without due attention to the yellow traffic lights.

In addition, the system may not respond adequately to changes in the speed limit, or may not sufficiently take into account the driver's adjustments to the vehicle's speed to the point of exceeding the speed limit.

Above-mentioned various deficiencies all may cause traffic accident.

　　Some media pointed out that only Tesla owners who have installed advanced FSD driver assistance systems in their cars can join the FSD Beta program.

To get the FSD Beta, you need to pay $15,000 in the US, or $199 a month for a subscription.

Additionally, owners must earn a high Driver Safety Score, as determined by Tesla software that monitors their driving habits, and maintain that score to gain FSD Beta access.

　　NHTSA said it expects Tesla to fix the issue by April 15 via an over-the-air software update for free.

　　In addition, the agency also stated that it issued the first notice to Tesla on January 25 this year, responding to the discovery of potential problems related to certain operational characteristics of the FSD test version in 4 specific road environments, and asked the special Tesla filed a recall request.

　　In the days following the initial notification, Tesla met with NHTSA several times.

Tesla disagreed with the results of its analysis, but decided to issue the recall on Feb. 7, saying it was "out of an abundance of caution," according to the agency.

　　Just last year, Tesla recalled 54,000 electric vehicles installed with a test version of FSD in the United States. This system will prevent some models from stopping completely at certain intersections, thereby posing safety risks.

　　Musk: The word "recall" is so wrong

　　On the 16th, Musk responded on Twitter that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) used the word "recall" to describe Tesla's updated data as "outrageously wrong."

　　It's worth noting that this isn't the first time Musk has criticized NHTSA's language.

　　In September last year, NHTSA asked Tesla to recall nearly 1.1 million vehicles in the U.S. market, including Model 3, Model Y, and Model S, because the window anti-pinch system may not respond correctly after detecting obstacles. and Model X.

　　In response to the incident, Musk tweeted: "NHTSA terminology is outdated and inaccurate. This is just a minor software update. As far as we know, no one was hurt."

　　Like Tesla's previous recalls, this one does not require owners of affected vehicles to go to a dealership, and is only resolved through an over-the-air software update.

So Musk is unhappy that NHTSA is calling it a "recall" and suggests that NHTSA should move with the times and stop calling these OTA software updates "recalls" because they are not actually recalls on a physical level.

Using the word "recall" in this context is also likely to bring unnecessary psychological pressure to car owners and affect the brand's reputation, because most readers of the news will think that Tesla is actually recalling 1.1 million vehicles Replace faulty parts.

　　With the continuous upgrading of automotive intelligent applications, Tesla is not the only automaker in the global market to recall over-the-air software updates, and in the foreseeable future, more and more automakers will Upgrade or repair related functions of the vehicle through OTA technology.

　　European car bosses criticize Tesla for cutting prices:

　　"I hope they keep cutting prices, ideally down to zero"

　　As an industry disruptor, Tesla is not only facing new problems such as "recall", some peers have also expressed dissatisfaction with its flexible price adjustment policy.

　　According to the Financial Associated Press, on February 16 local time, Luca de Meo, president of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association and CEO of the French Renault Group, criticized Tesla and other companies for selling cars at lower prices in order to increase market share. Said the move would destroy customer value.

　　De Meo has seen competitors slash prices up and down, causing car prices to fluctuate, which he believes hurts consumer confidence in a vehicle's value.

"I hope they continue to cut prices, preferably to zero, but we will protect the value of electric vehicles."

　　Tesla's price cuts have been welcomed by most stock analysts, who believe that the move can generate new demand and is expected to bring very significant economies of scale.

But De Meo disagrees.

　　He said: "In the long run, this is not a healthy approach. As electric vehicles develop in Europe, we need to have a healthy business. For Renault, the last thing I want to do is to invest in profits from electric vehicles. make a compromise.”

　　In fact, Tesla's price cuts have sparked complaints from customers in many sales territories.

They bought the car at a premium and watched it depreciate overnight.

"When you do that, it definitely destroys customer value," de Meo noted.

　　On January 31, Tesla submitted a 10-K document to the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission), disclosing its 2022 annual performance.

　　The document shows that Tesla's total revenue in 2022 will be 81.462 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 51%, of which, car sales revenue will be 67.21 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52%.

　　In terms of regions, the revenue in the United States was 40.553 billion US dollars, accounting for 49.76%.

Although the revenue in China has increased, the proportion has dropped from 25.72% in 2021 to 22.27%, and the growth rate has also dropped from over 100% in 2021 to 31%.

　　At the same time, the document also disclosed that investing in Bitcoin in 2022 will cause Tesla an impairment loss of US$204 million, and the conversion of Bitcoin into legal tender will bring about US$64 million in gains.

　　Editor | Sun Zhicheng Du Hengfeng