Can We Fix Reporting on Auto Recalls Finally?
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I saw the following headline last week: “Tesla recalling almost 700,000 vehicles due to tire pressure monitoring system issue.” For a moment I thought, “Oh, wow, that’s a lot of cars that are going to need to go in for service.” But then I quickly realized that this was most likely a software update. And that’s just what it is — a software update.
This isn’t the first such headline. It’s been happening for years. Scaremongering about a massive Tesla “recall” is common practice and has been for a long time. By the traditional use of the term, one would expect a “recall” would mean that you have to bring the car into the dealer. When all it means is Tesla is going to roll out a software update that Tesla owners like me won’t even need to pay any attention to, why scaremonger with headlines about 700,000 vehicles needing to be recalled?
Another recall popped up a few days later. The headline: “2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV recalled because it’s too quiet.” I clicked through, hoping to find out that it was again just a software update. After all, it turned out this is just about the fake noise electric vehicles have to make in order to make sure pedestrians hear the cars at low speeds and are safe. As it turns out, though, while this is simply a software update, GM can’t install the update over the air. In this case, 7,606 Chevrolet Equinox EVs will need to visit a dealer. “A software update for the affected vehicles’ body control modules will make them compliant with these rules. However, despite being purely a software issue, the fix can’t be done via an over-the-air update and will require a visit to a dealership, where technicians will perform the work free of charge,” Green Car Reports writes.
In this case, we’ve got an actual recall — even if it does just require a software fix.
It would be nice if, across the board, we could know if something is a true recall or not from a headline, and from any official lingo about the matter. An over-the-air software update that doesn’t require the EV owner to do anything, and certainly doesn’t require them to bring their car into a dealer for an hour or so for a fix, should be called something other than a “recall.” It’s not a recall. A recall is “an act or instance of officially recalling someone or something,” or “officially ordering (someone) to return to a place.”
Unfortunately, given that this has been going on for years, and with no serious requests or petitions to change it, I imagine we’ll continue to see headlines about massive recalls that are effectively useless for EV owners. We’ll continue to have real recalls mixed up with fake ones. This also means non-EV owners will see many more “recalls” about EVs, perhaps strengthening their opinion that EVs aren’t ready yet and aren’t reliable. The vast, vast majority of people don’t read beyond the headline. So if they see 10 headlines about EV recalls, they are just going to assume those owners have to bring their cars into their local dealers 10 times. Is this serving any useful purpose? No, but it will continue.
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