NEW YORK, Dec 14: Tesla, the electric vehicle giant led by Elon Musk, issued a recall for over two million cars in the United States, nearly its entire fleet, and an additional 193,000 vehicles in Canada. The recall follows findings by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the software governing Tesla's autopilot mode is defective. The NHTSA investigation, spanning two years, revealed accidents, including fatalities, involving Tesla vehicles likely in autopilot mode. The agency criticized Tesla's safeguards as deficient, highlighting the "foreseeable misuse of the system."

As a response, Tesla plans to install software updates to enhance driver attention during autopilot mode, increasing alerts and limiting the areas where autopilot can be engaged. Safety experts acknowledge the effort to encourage driver responsibility but point out that the update does not address the core issue of Tesla's system identifying and avoiding obstacles.

The recall affects all Tesla Model Y, S, 3, and X vehicles produced between October 5, 2012, and December 7, 2023. The NHTSA continues its investigations into Teslas crashing into emergency vehicles while on autopilot. So far, the agency has probed 35 Tesla crashes since 2016, resulting in at least 17 fatalities.

In Sweden, Tesla faces potential strikes at its factories as workers, supporting mechanics' collective bargaining rights, threaten work stoppages. The Transport Workers' Union in Sweden, joining other labor groups, announced plans for strikes at Tesla factories, affecting garbage collection for the company starting December 24 if an agreement isn't reached. Tesla is entangled in a dispute with Swedish mechanics over collective bargaining rights regarding pay and working conditions.

Meanwhile, a legal setback occurred in Tesla's clash with Swedish postal workers aligned with mechanics. Tesla's attempt to bypass postal workers' refusal to deliver license plates by picking them up directly from the manufacturer was found to lack the right by an appeals court, sending the case back to a lower court for further review