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Tesla fans call for recall terminology update, but the NHTSA isn’t convinced it’s needed
Tesla fans have been calling for an update in recall terminology ever since Over-the-Air updates became more popular in resolving vehicle issues. However, the NHTSA, the agency responsible for handling recalls and vehicle safety, is not convinced that it is needed.
The majority of Tesla’s vehicle recalls are performed through software remedies, which makes things complicated when it comes to headlines. Far too often, media outlets run with headlines like “Tesla recalls 2 million vehicles for safety issue,” when in reality, the issue is something small and fixable through a software update that downloads and is applied while the owner is asleep.
Fans are not the only ones calling for a terminology update. CEO Elon Musk is calling for one as well and has on several occasions.
‘Outdated & Inaccurate’
After a 2022 “recall” on over 1 million Teslas for a window issue, mainstream media pushed the narrative that 1 million EVs were in need of a major fix. In reality, the problem was remedied through a software download and update, and not a single car needed to go to a service center for repair.
“The terminology is outdated & inaccurate. This is a tiny over-the-air software update. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no injuries,” Musk said in response to the recall.
The terminology is outdated & inaccurate. This is a tiny over-the-air software update. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no injuries.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 22, 2022
More recently, a 2 million-vehicle recall was initiated by Tesla and the NHTSA to increase font size.
“On affected vehicles, the letter font size of the Brake, Park, and Antilock brake system (ABS) visual warning indicators is smaller than 3.2 mm (1/8 inch), as prescribed in FMVSS Nos. 105 and 135,” the NHTSA said in its 573 Safety Recall Report.
Tesla’s font size causes 2.2 million vehicle ‘recall’ that’s really just an OTA upate
The 2.2 million vehicles affected were given a software update, which was downloaded and applied to all vehicles. It increased the font size without anyone needing to physically take their cars to a showroom.
‘No difference to the safety risk posed by a defect’
From the NHTSA’s perspective, recall still fits the bill of anything from a steering wheel that falls off to the font size being a size too small.
Teslarati reached out to the agency last week, asking if there were any internal plans or discussions regarding the terminology of a recall. In reality, there are more companies than just Tesla that would benefit from an update in terminology.
Ford is another company that has used Over-the-Air updates to solve vehicle problems.
The NHTSA told us that any defect, big or small, fits the bill of a recall, and whether it can be resolved through software or through a physical repair makes no difference. It’s still a safety issue:
“Defects that pose an unreasonable risk to safety are serious and should be remedied as soon as possible. The Vehicle Safety Act requires manufacturers to issue recalls to remedy safety defects. Whether a remedy can be completed at a local dealership or through an over-the-air software update makes no difference to the safety risk posed by a defect.”
Recalls are an acknowledgment of a safety defect in a vehicle, and how they’re repaired does not play into the terminology used. Recalls are important because they alert a vehicle owner of an issue, and sometimes, the OTA update may not be successfully applied, or it could persist after the fix is sent through software.
Comparing Vehicle Recalls to Phone Updates
A common comparison used by people who oppose the use of the word “recall” to describe an OTA update is that of a smartphone update.
iPhones are common recipients of software updates, and you’ll see people online facetiously say, “My iPhone is getting recalled!”
The NHTSA does not see a comparison, considering vehicle safety defects can put lives at risk on the road. The driver is at risk if things are not fixed, and others can be put in harm’s way as well.
Unfortunately, those who disagree with the use of the word “recall” may have to deal with it. It does not seem that the NHTSA has any plans to update the terminology used because the medium of repair is not what a recall applies to. It is the issue itself.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk
Tesla confirmed HW3 can’t do Unsupervised FSD but there’s more to the story
Tesla confirmed HW3 vehicles cannot run unsupervised FSD, replacing its free upgrade promise with a discounted trade-in.
Tesla has officially confirmed that early vehicles with its Autopilot Hardware 3 (HW3) will not be capable of unsupervised Full Self-Driving, while extending a path forward for legacy owners through a discounted trade-in program. The announcement came by way of Elon Musk in today’s Tesla Q1 2026 earnings call.
🚨 Our LIVE updates on the Tesla Earnings Call will take place here in a thread 🧵
Follow along below: pic.twitter.com/hzJeBitzJU
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 22, 2026
The history here matters. HW3 launched in April 2019, and Tesla sold Full Self-Driving packages to owners on the understanding that the hardware was sufficient for full autonomy. Some owners paid between $8,000 and $15,000 for FSD during that period. For years, as FSD’s AI models grew more demanding, HW3 vehicles fell progressively further behind, eventually landing on FSD v12.6 in January 2025 while AI4 vehicles moved to v13 and then v14. When Musk acknowledged in January 2025 that HW3 simply could not reach unsupervised operation, and alluded to a difficult hardware retrofit.
The near-term offering is more concrete. Tesla’s head of Autopilot Ashok Elluswamy confirmed on today’s call that a V14-lite will be coming to HW3 vehicles in late June, bringing all the V14 features currently running on AI4 hardware. That is a meaningful software update for owners who have been frozen at v12.6 for over a year, and it represents genuine effort to keep older hardware relevant. Unsupervised FSD for vehicles is now targeted for Q4 2026 at the earliest, with Musk describing it as a gradual, geography-limited rollout.
For HW3 owners, the over-the-air V14-lite update is welcomed, and the discounted trade-in path at least acknowledges an old obligation. What happens next with the trade-in pricing will define how this chapter ultimately gets written. If Tesla prices the hardware path fairly, acknowledges what early adopters are owed, and delivers V14-lite on the June timeline it committed to today, it has a real opportunity to convert one of the longest-running sore subjects among early adopters into a loyalty story.
Elon Musk
Tesla isn’t joking about building Optimus at an industrial scale: Here we go
Tesla’s Optimus factory in Texas targets 10 million robots yearly, with 5.2 million square feet under construction.
Tesla’s Q1 2026 Update Letter, released today, confirms that first generation Optimus production lines are now well underway at its Fremont, California factory, with a pilot line targeting one million robots per year to start. Of bigger note is a shared aerial image of a large piece of land adjacent to Gigafactory Texas, that Tesla has prominently labeled “Optimus factory site preparation.”
Permit documents show Tesla is seeking to add over 5.2 million square feet of new building space to the Giga Texas North Campus by the end of 2026, at an estimated construction investment of $5 billion to $10 billion. The longer term production target for that facility is 10 million Optimus units per year. Giga Texas already sits on 2,500 acres with over 10 million square feet of existing factory floor, and the North Campus expansion is being built to support multiple projects, including the dedicated Optimus factory, the Terafab chip fabrication facility (a joint Tesla/SpaceX/xAI venture), a Cybercab test track, road infrastructure, and supporting facilities.
Credit: TESLA
Texas makes strategic sense beyond the existing infrastructure. The state’s tax structure, lower labor costs relative to California, and the proximity to Tesla’s AI training cluster Cortex 1 and 2, both located at Giga Texas and now totaling over 230,000 H100 equivalent GPUs, means the Optimus software stack and the factory producing the hardware will share the same campus. Tesla’s Q1 report also confirmed completion of the AI5 chip tape out in April, the inference processor designed specifically to power Optimus units in the field.
As Teslarati reported, the Texas facility is intended to house Optimus V4 production at full scale. Musk told the World Economic Forum in January that Tesla plans to sell Optimus to the public by end of 2027 at a price between $20,000 and $30,000, stating, “I think everyone on earth is going to have one and want one.” He has previously pegged long term demand for general purpose humanoid robots at over 20 billion units globally, citing both consumer and industrial use cases.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street analysts expected.
The earnings results come after Tesla reported a miss on vehicle deliveries for the first quarter, delivering 358,023 vehicles and building 408,386 cars during the three-month span.
As Tesla transitions more toward AI and sees itself as less of a car company, expectations for deliveries will begin to become less of a central point in the consensus of how the quarter is perceived.
Nevertheless, Tesla is leaning on its strong foundation as a car company to carry forward its AI ambitions. The first quarter is a good ground layer for the rest of the year.
Tesla Q1 2026 Earnings Results
Tesla’s Earnings Results are as follows:
- Non-GAAP EPS – $0.41 Reported vs. $0.36 Expected
- Revenues – $22.387 billion vs. $22.35 billion Expected
- Free Cash Flow – $1.444 billion
- Profit – $4.72 billion
Tesla beat analyst expectations, so it will be interesting to see how the stock responds. IN the past, we’ve seen Tesla beat analyst expectations considerably, followed by a sharp drop in stock price.
On the same token, we’ve seen Tesla miss and the stock price go up the following trading session.
Tesla will hold its Q1 2026 Earnings Call in about 90 minutes at 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Remarks will be made by CEO Elon Musk and other executives, who will shed some light on the investor questions that we covered earlier this week.
You can stream it below. Additionally, we will be doing our Live Blog on X and Facebook.
Q1 2026 Earnings Call at 4:30pm CT https://t.co/pkYIaGJ32y
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 22, 2026
Tesla confirmed HW3 can’t do Unsupervised FSD but there’s more to the story
Tesla isn’t joking about building Optimus at an industrial scale: Here we go
