Tesla disables ‘Passenger Play’ video video games whereas car is shifting

Tesla is issuing a software program replace that can maintain drivers from with the ability to play video video games on the automobile’s leisure system whereas the auto is shifting, in response to a press release on Thursday from the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration.

The NHTSA stated on Wednesday that it had opened an investigation protecting 580,000 Tesla Mannequin 3, Mannequin S, and Mannequin X automobiles that have been offered between 2017 and 2022 after receiving a criticism in August. The company stated it was trying into whether or not drivers may very well be distracted by enjoying video games on the automobile’s primary show, utilizing the “Passenger Play” characteristic.

“Following the opening of a preliminary analysis of Tesla’s ‘Passenger Play,’ Tesla knowledgeable the company that it’s altering the performance of this characteristic,” an NHTSA spokesperson stated in an emailed assertion. “In a brand new software program replace, ‘Passenger Play’ will now be locked and unusable when the car is in movement.”

The company is watching Tesla carefully.

The NHTSA stated earlier this month that it is speaking with the electrical automobile maker relating to defective Autopilot cameras in a few of the automobiles the corporate produced in Fremont, California. CNBC beforehand reported that Tesla is changing repeater cameras in a few of its U.S.-made automobiles after discovering defective printed circuit boards inside.

— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.

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