Why Elon Musk Tesla call back two million cars

Tesla dey recall more dan two million cars afta di US regulator find out say driver assistance system, Autopilot, get some faults.

Dis na afta a two year investigation into crashes wey happun wen dem bin dey use dey technology.

Di recall apply to almost evri Tesla car wey dem sell for US since dem lauch di Autopilot feature for 2015.

Tesla, wey di owner na billionaire Elon Musk, say dem go send software update "over di air" to fix di issue.

Di update dey happen automatically, and e no require a visit to a dealership or garage, but di US regulator still refer to am as recall.

Di BBC don approach di UK Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to ask how e go affect Tesla drivers for di UK.

Autopilot suppose help wit steering, acceleration and braking - but, despite di name, di car still need di driver effort.

Di US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) say di recall na due to one issue wit Autopilot driver monitoring system, wey dey detect weda di driver dey pay attention.

As part of wetin e call an "extensive" two year investigation, NHTSA review 956 crashes wia dem bin use Autopilot initially.

Dat investigation na im be di result of dis recall, and as Tesla agree say di system controls "fit no dey enof to stop driver misuse".

"Automated technology bin hold great promise for improving safety but only wen dem use am responsibly", di NHTSA write, e add say e go kontinu to monitor di software once dem update am.

Dis dey come one week afta one former Tesla employee tell di BBC say im believe say di technology no dey safe.

Lukasz Krupski, tok afta e win Blueprint Prize wey recognise whistleblowers, e tell BBC: "I no tink say di hardware dey ready and di software dey ready".

"E affect all of us becos we we be experiments for public roads", im claim.

Reacting to di news of di recall oga Krupski tell di BBC say na "a step in di right direction" but im point out say no be problem for only di US.

"Di hardware na di same for all di Tesla wey dey US, China etc," im tok

Safety metrics

Tesla neva respond to di BBC request for comment but, on Tuesday, di company defend di safety of Autopilot for one post on X (formerly Twitter) in response to one Washington Post article.

"Safety metrics dey emphatically stronger wen Autopilot dey engaged dan wen e no dey engaged" e write, e point to statistics wey suggest dia say na only few crashes happun wen dem use di system.

Jack Stilgoe, associate professor for University College London, wey dey research autonomous vehicles, say Tesla for spend more time to develop di system first.

"Di conventional way of ensuring safety na to check if a car dey safe wen e comot from di factory", im tell di BBC.

But despite dis recall wey be dis year wey affect Tesla vehicles, Susannah Streeter of investment company Hargreaves Lansdown, say her assessment be say dem for no check di carmaker momentum too greatly:

"Dis recall of 2 million cars on e own no dey likely to serious quash enthusiasm. Di share price don drop back small, but e no look like say bad market go hit dem.

"Afta all, recalls for di car industry na wetin no dey unsual and di group also get di financial ability to invest to fix am", she add.

Additional alerts

Di recall centre on a part of Autopilot called Autosteer.

Autosteer dey help keep a car for di correct lane in conjunction wit "traffic-aware cruise control" wey dey match di speed of di car to dat of di surrounding traffic.

Di driver dey expected to get dia hands on wheel and dey ready to take over from di assistive system wen e dey required.

Wen Autosteer dey on, systems for di car monitor dey wey di driver dey pay attention to.

If e detect say di driver no dey dia e go raise warning alerts. Alerts also dey if di driver try to use Autosteer for inappropriate circumstances.

According to di recall documents Tesla supply to di NHTSA, di "over di air update" go include additional alerts and monitoring "to encourage di driver to obey dia continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged."