June 03, 2024 – In a regulatory divergence, the Canadian Department of Transport has mandated Tesla to revert the brake and parking indicators in its vehicles back to iconic symbols. Prior to this directive, Tesla had complied with a recall request from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States, converting these indicators from symbols to textual labels via a software update.
As reported, in February this year, the NHTSA demanded Tesla to change the original brake, parking, and ABS indicator icons to textual displays. Tesla promptly addressed this issue through an Over-the-Air (OTA) software update. However, shortly afterwards, the Canadian Department of Transport issued a recall notice, instructing select Tesla vehicles to revert the updated textual indicators back to iconic symbols in accordance with Canadian regulations.
Similar to the US, numerous software-based recall issues have been resolved through Tesla’s OTA updates. In this instance, Tesla has also released a new OTA update to address the issue. The Canadian Department of Transport has clarified that owners with vehicles running Tesla software versions 2024.3.25, 2024.14.5, or higher, do not require any further action.
“While the safety risk is deemed low, Canadian regulations mandate the use of universal symbols for visual warnings, rather than text, to minimize driver confusion,” stated the agency in the recall notice.
Many Tesla owners, including Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, have advocated for regulatory agencies to rephrase their terminology regarding recalls that can be fixed through OTA updates, as opposed to requiring the involvement of mechanics. The NHTSA has responded that such issues still pose safety risks and thus require official recalls, regardless of whether they are resolved through software updates or other methods.
