Tesla again is facing another safety recall from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This time, it involves the company’s ‘Boombox’ speaker that can play sound while driving and block out the audible warnings from the pedestrian warning speaker.
The NHTSA safety recall posted Thursday says it affects 579,000 vehicles (via Seeking Alpha):
“Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Model S, Model X, Model Y, and 2017-2022 Model 3 vehicles. The Boombox function allows sounds to be played through an external speaker while the vehicle is in motion, which may obscure the Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) sounds. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 141, “Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles,”” reads the document.
If the pedestrian warning sounds aren’t audible, then pedestrians may not hear an electric vehicle approaching.
Tesla will fix this issue with an over-the-air software update to disable ‘Boombox’ when cars are in Drive, Neutral and Reverse. The company will mail notification letters to owners on April 5, 2022.
Tesla’s ‘Boombox’ feature debuted during the company’s V10 software update, back in December 2020.
Recently, Tesla has faced numerous NHTSA safety recalls, all of which have been addressed via over-the-air software updates.
