DETROIT -- Tesla is recalling nearly 579,000 vehicles in the U.S. because a Boombox function can play sounds over an external speaker and obscure audible warnings for pedestrians.
The recall is the fourth made public in the last two weeks as U.S. safety regulators increase scrutiny of the country's largest electric vehicle maker.
In two of the recalls, Tesla made decisions that violate federal motor vehicle safety standards, while the others are software errors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website Thursday that the cars and SUVs have what Tesla calls a appBoomboxapp function that allows drivers to play sounds while the vehicles are moving. This violates federal safety standards that require pedestrian warning noises for electric cars, which make little noise when traveling, the agency says.
The agency says the problem will be repaired with an over-the-air software update that will disable appBoombox,app in drive, reverse or neutral.
appThe Boombox functionality allows a customer to play preset or custom sounds through the PWS (pedestrian warning system) external speaker when the vehicle is parked or in motion," NHTSA says in documents posted on its website.
appWhile Boombox and the pedestrian alert sound are mutually exclusive sounds, sounds emitted using Boombox could be construed to obscure or prevent the PWS from complying" with safety standards, the agency wrote.
The recall covers certain 2020 through 2022 Tesla Model X, S, and Y vehicles, as well as 2017 through 2022 Model 3s, according to records.
A message was left Thursday seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations department. The company is not aware of any crashes or injuries because of the problem, NHTSA said.
Tesla enabled Boombox with a software update in December 2020, NHTSA said in documents. The agency began seeking information from Tesla in January 2021, and Tesla explained the feature and contended that it complied with U.S. safety standards.
In September 2021, NHTSA opened an investigation into the feature. A month later, Tesla defended its rationale for determining that Boombox complied with safety standards. But on Jan. 29 of this year, the company decided to do a recall and disable Bombox in drive, neutral and reverse.
NHTSA said that in 2010, Congress required electric and hybrid vehicles to make pedestrian warning noises. The law required agency rules to stop manufactures from allowing anyone other than an automaker or dealer to appdisable, alter, replace, or modify the pedestrian alert sound or set of sounds.app
Tuesdayapps recall is the 15th done by Tesla since January 2021, according to NHTSA records. In addition, the safety agency has opened multiple investigations of Teslas.
