There’s got to be another way to describe this than as a “recall”. New buyers seeing the term “recall” could shake their confidence in the EV industry as a whole and needlessly perpetuate the sale of ICE vehicles.
Nah, recalls happen all the time to ICE vehicles and no one eschews them for the train or metro. Integrity begins with what is said and how. It is important to be direct, even if our own personal biased want to show.
The issue comes in that, historically, recalls require you to take your car in for service… hence the name. With OTA updates, the issues are often fixed before the consumer even knows there is an issue and the “recall” effectively just becomes communication that there was a problem.
These communications definitely need to continue happening and should remain mandatory by law, but calling them the same thing that requires a trip to the mechanic or dealership, to replace parts, is specifically being broadcast as a means to discredit the technology.
People that aren’t informaed about the difference end up believing these issues will prevent their car from working or reduce reliability when they are simple software patches that happen without the need for additional resources.
The vehicle is unsafe to drive until the update happens
Whether it’s easier for the user to verify themselves, or it’s easier to take it to the dealer isn’t really relevant
It’s not being used to discredit the technology - it’s how you tell consumers that the product is not safe without a modification
People said the same thing recently when Tesla was required to do an OTA update in the US. The thing is that while they don’t have to physically work on each vehicle, it’s labeled a recall because it’s a regulatory action that compelled them to do it. Tesla didn’t decide to do these updates on their own - they were directed to do so by the government, first in the US and now in China.
Aha! This makes a lot of sense and is the type of answer i was looking for.
Voluntary recalls are actually more common than ordered recalls. Manufacturers usually don’t wait for the NHTSA to get involved.
What makes it a recall is that either the manufacturer or the NHTSA determine that there’s a safety defect or that the vehicle doesn’t confirm to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard.
So I believe the terminology is required by the NHTSA if it fits the above definition regardless of how the issue is addressed.
Of course this is for the US and this is a recall in China but I’m assuming similar legal requirements are involved.
I mean, it should absolutely shake peoples’ faith in Tesla. They are unreliable vehicles made by a shady af company.
Agreed. This is why most Tesla recall headlines are clickbait. It’s the first thing I check when I see one.
Oof you can’t say anything on Lemmy that defies the “we hate tesla because Elon” culture - even slightly.
Enjoy the -30 downvotes lol, I’m sure I’ll join you shortly.
