Technology

AFAIK they’re all just software updates that install automatically

Recalls aren't just something that magically happen. Usually there's an investigation (by the NHTSA, or the company themselves). That investigation concludes that a recall is warranted or necessary and, in the case of voluntary recalls they do a cost to benefit analysis (like how Ford did when the Pinto was a bomb just waiting to be rear ended, and they realized they would save money by not recalling them).

But the NHTSA does force quite a few car manufacturers to do mandatory recalls regardless of whether they want to or not, usually to do with health and safety. You know. To prevent the Ford Pinto scenario.

So it's not so much what they aren't recalling (although I'm sure there's quite a lot). The real question should be, why do they have so many recalls? Why aren't they fixing the problems before they public gets a hold of these vehicles. And it's not just Tesla we should be asking that question of.

Tesla may have figured out how SpaceX deals with the muskrat. They basically have a team of people that run interference with tons of busywork they shove in his face when he visits, so that he can't actually do anything.

If Trump's people have half a brain, they will talk to the people that give the British rich and powerful the run around.

For this kind of recall, the expense can be insanely low. It's just a software update that can be done over the air. Something that would warrant a recall is the type of thing they would fix for future builds. So they already put money into it to update the software for future builds. Just pushing it to older builds is simple. Ergo the part of the formula for "the cost of doing the recall" is, as previously mentioned, insanely low. This makes it very easy to have that cost be lower than the amount to settle out of court.

Seems to me just specifying that it's a software recall would be a good balance.

Nah I like the term recall. Just because the fix is "easy" doesn't mean the product wasn't broken. Automakers should take the software in their cars seriously especially the ones that market their cars like a cell phone.

As a software engineer, I would think to call this a patch or a hotfix. I agree that recall for this type of situation is a bit too dramatic, but I'd also say that patch or hotfix are too casual sounding

Yes absolutely. The term recall is supposed to be when they literally recall the cars, like bring them back in, in the same context as you recall your dog after he runs around the yard.
No cars are being brought back in. No dealers are involved here. It's just a bug fix for the next software release.

I also don't like how the ability to fix bugs is creating a huge number of 'recalls'. For example, last year Tesla had a 'recall' because NHTSA decided the warning icons on the dashboard screen weren't big enough. Like the icons for parking brake and seat belt. Which is frustrating because the car is operated for years with the original icons and nobody had a complaint.

But if this was an old style car, where those were individual LEDs silkscreened in an instrument cluster, that would never be a recall because it would cost millions to replace every single instrument cluster on every single car. But because it is remotely fixable, it becomes a recall.

Cool factor I think. Tech enthusiasts who wanted a car full of tech. The funny thing is automotive is having a tough time building quality vehicles recently across the board. The pandemic only seems to have exacerbated the problem but the trend is that even experienced car manufacturers are having recalls up the whazoo.

Affluent people like novelty.

The man who conned a generation.

The article isn't really clear, it doesn't exactly name the vehicles affected. But only mentions & shows the cybertruck.