this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2023
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They really should disaggregate recalls fixed with OTA updates from recalls that need a physical intervention. Obviously Teslas almost always need an OTA update
That's why Teslas are so cheap...right?
Lack of quality control
Cheap paint work
Cheap plastics panels all over the car
Underpaid workers
Etc
Keeps the price down
No, they are cheap because Tesla built extremely efficient factories, assembly lines and car designs from the start. Try to look up the differences between Tesla and other manufacturers like VW, Toyota etc...
They don't do all the checks in process that are normal in automotive industry. They build them "good enough" and hope for the best. The plastics and frames don't align and if you work in the industry and benchmark a Tesla you can quickly see where the cut corners
efficiency is when you have to recall your cars the most out of anybody because it's more efficient to get them out the door and in to the ~~suckers~~ customers hands and then fix them later
Because they sell direct to consumer and not via dealerships who, due to the lobbyists and supporting legislation that they have, pretty much own the US automotive industry.
I was joking, they aren't cheap, they're average priced for a subpar car. The Ford Maverick is $25,000, a whopping $10,000 cheaper than the Model 3.
Edit: I'm stupid, I thought the Ford Maverick was the EV model. It's in fact the Ford Lightning, which starts at $50,000. Teslas are in fact cheap.
Are you comparing the price of an EV to a gas powered car? Thats a pretty unrealistic comparison.
I dont disagree its a subpar car in terms of quality, but for an EV its a really good price.
Why are you comparing a compact Tesla to Ford trucks? Teslas are definitely expensive. And the model 3 isn't $35k, it's more like $50k.
They shouldn't, because a LOT of those software updates were safety related.
Agreed. Although we would still need a measure the severity of these issues. An OTA update is more convenient than a physical recall, but it doesn't change that the car drove with those issues until the problem was discovered and fixed.
So the more important question is whether the underlying problem was something trivial like a minor comfort feature not working as intended or something affecting the safety of the car.
No they shouldn't. since not every OTA update gets a recall. Only safety related issues cause recalls. What OTA recall means is software or algorhitm related to the drive train, driving or related systems had a safety related issue.
It is normal, that now that there is more software control, there is more software related recalls. The point isn't to track how many times the car went to shop to be worked on. The point is to track how many times and how severe safety related issues there is. Just because the solution was simple to end user OTA update doesn't mean the underlying safety issue wasn't severe.
Before you had to go to garage to fix sticking accelerator cable. Now you have to update the power delivery mapping algorhitm, since it had a bug qnd didn't properly cut the torque from the motor on accelerator lift. Both are uncommanded acceleration application issues. Equally severe and very serious safety issues. One just needs physical work, other software fixing.
That they have to update the software so often regarding safety says to me their safety verification procedure isn't robust.
Also not like Tesla is the only one. Others also have had to update their software for bugs or ill behavior. Just not as often. I would hazard due to more conservative software updating.
Bunch of the recalls for Tesla have been caused by them updating software, introducing a bug and then having to pretty soon after safety recall for the update fixing that bug. If they had scrutineered the software more closely, they would have avoided the safety recall. Since the deployed software would be bug free on the first deployment.
Remember on modern EV, single bug in control software can send front and rear tires spinning in opposite directions. On 4 motor torque vectoring the software can send the car into uncontrolled tank spin with one side pulling forward and other backward.
The simple truth is the driveline control software is safety critical component of modern car and thus should absolutely earn safety notices on having problems. Mind you recall is archaic name for safety notice, but that is the name in legislations and use. On many other fields also there is archaic legacy terms in use and people learn to deal with it.
Doesn't OTA fixes by definition mean no recall?
Recall, an official recall, is a safety issue notice really. Its a legally defined thing in motor vehicle code. If manufacturer finds a defect, issue or feature affecting driving safety they have to notify safety authorities and get a recall issued. It doesn't have to have anything to do with, whether the product goes back to service garage or not.
Important point: Not every Tesla OTA update triggers a NHTSA (or other national road safety agency) official recall. Tesla has updated their cars plenty without recall notice. Only safety related issues get recall issued along with the OTA update.
Thus it is meaningfully, that they have so many software related (and thus OTA fixed) safety recalls. Each of those times is Hey, NHTSA, gonna have to admit, our software has a safety oopsie on it. Here is the paperwork, could you please issue us the official recall campaign number. Yeah software team already developed fix for it, it's all in the paperwork. We issue recall notice for drivers to check for the OTA to have gone through properly, that is all they need to do.
No maker wants to have safety recalls. It's bad PR. Makers have been fined plenty times for failing to properly inform agencies. One of the most famous is the Takata airbags. Where Takata got fined millions by first knowing and not telling their airbags had extra spicy unstable propellant exploding way too violently. Plus after firstly admitting to it lying to for example NHTSA about the vast extend of the problem.
So it matters, that even on "just a software issue" recalls are issued. The main point is public is properly informed. Lot of time it's resolved without great calamity. However this was exactly the lesson learned. Don't let makers hide issued, make them admit immediately so public knows and can take appropriate mitigation, before someone gets hurt. Also makes makers fix things quickly. Otherwise other priorities might override, since What they don't know can't hurt our reputation, like this is marginal issue. We can take little more time with this. Oh it takes 6 months to design fix with that small team. No worries. After all, no one knows. We have time. Except during that slow roll someone bumps into that "marginal issue" and gets hurt. Having to publicly admit immediately puts fire under their hind quarters. "Whole design department, stop what you are doing. We have safety recall issue. It went just public. Everyday company sits without being able to say No worries, we have solution we take flack. This is now priority number 1. This must be resolved yesterday, says the company board. Whatever parts or equipment you need, order it. Whomever you need to call, call them."
No, they are for some reasons called recalls. Didn’t Tesla recall their entire fleet this spring? It was solved by OTA updates.
Why recall them if the issue can be taken care of over the air? That IS what OTA stands for, right?
I don’t know if it’s maybe a judicial thing or something or if they are technically required to do an official recall registered in some system, even if they can actually solve it OTA.
I would suspect the rules around required recalls are not really updated to reflect the extended amount of issues that a vertical system integrator like Tesla can solve OTA.
Ah, it's one of those cases where de jure isn't the same reality as de facto and the hack journalist pretends otherwise? Gotcha.
I'm officially joining team "fuck Musk and his shoddily built rolling ipads, but that's bullshit bordering on journalistic malpractice", I guess 🤷
I don’t have any agenda, I just tried answering your question.
I'm not complaining about you, I appreciate your answer and am sorry about the confusion lol
I was complaining about the law and whomever made the statistics and wrote the article pretending that completely different things are the same, didn't mean to shoot the messenger!