Tesla’s Latest Bug Leaves Drivers Unaware Of How Fast They’re Going
Tesla recalled about 48,000 Model 3 Performance vehicles that the speed was not displayed on the speedometer when the car was in Track Mode.
Tesla is recalling some Model 3 Performance vehicles due to a speed display malfunction during Track Mode. These electric vehicles have gotten numerous recalls, and this one is dangerous. Earlier this year, the company recalled 800,000 cars with a seat belt warning system failure. And that was right after the Full Self Driving (FSD) feature was recalled due to rolling stops. Luckily, these issues can be fixed with over-the-air (OTA) software updates.
So, what is Track Mode? It’s designed for driving on closed-circuit courses to give the driver more stability control, increased performance, traction control and regenerative braking. The cooling system also runs at a higher level to allow the car to withstand the extra heat. Track Mode is automatically disabled, so the driver will have to enable it for their circuit drive. The owner can easily turn this on by going to Controls > Pedals & Steering > Track Mode. Drivers can also customize the setting by selecting Customize next to Track Mode. This feature also allows users to time their sessions with Lap Timer.
Tesla recalled about 48,000 vehicles where the speed was not displayed on the speedometer when the car was in Track Mode. This includes Model 3 Performance vehicles from 2018 to 2022. Owners of these vehicles will be receiving a letter “to be mailed June 6, 2022.” Tesla is also fixing this issue with OTA updates. Drivers can find out if their EV is affected by this issue by searching the car’s VIN on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. According to Reuters, “Tesla said a firmware update released in December unintentionally removed the speed unit from the user interface.”
While this issue shouldn’t affect all drivers since not all of them will be driving on tracks, as shown with crashes while using the Smart Summon and FSD features, these features are not always used as they were intended. Regardless, not knowing how fast the car is going is dangerous in any situation. Drivers could lose control of the vehicle if traveling at high speeds.
All technology can have bugs. For example, smartphones get frequent bugs, but calls being declined aren’t as dangerous as when glitches happen in a car. Recently, a Tesla owner’s vehicle computer froze when he was going 83 mph. Luckily he was not hurt, and Tesla claims the issue is fixed, but anyone would be worried after that. People using these advanced features should be cautious since they’ve been known to have problems.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Reuters