Why China Ordered Tesla’s Biggest-Ever Recall

The distinction matters because Level 2 assistance still requires the human driver to supervise the vehicle. A hand, weight, or other object can create steering-wheel resistance without demonstrating that a person is actually monitoring traffic.

2. Emergency door releases may be difficult to find after a crash

The second campaign covers 2,975,910 vehicles, including China-made and imported Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X vehicles. It is scheduled to take effect on September 25.

The issue concerns the interior mechanical emergency release—the manual backup intended to open a door if normal electrically powered controls are unavailable. After a severe crash or electrical-system failure, occupants or rescuers may have difficulty identifying and operating the release, potentially delaying escape.

Tesla’s remedy includes warning labels and an over-the-air update designed to lower the windows after a collision. The campaign is therefore not limited to Tesla’s exterior door-handle design, nor is it confined to imported Model 3, Model S, and Model X vehicles: reporting describes coverage of both locally built and imported vehicles, including Model Y.

How the reported camera workarounds fit in

Reports in June said that some Tesla drivers in China had positioned small plastic heads or celebrity figurines, including a Dwayne Johnson likeness, near the rear-view mirror to fool the cabin-facing driver-monitoring camera.

Those reports highlight a broader weakness in camera-based attention systems: a camera may misinterpret a visual object as evidence of an attentive driver if its detection rules are too easily spoofed. However, the materials available here do not establish that these reported workarounds were the formal trigger for SAMR’s recall. The documented remedy is the integration of eye tracking with the existing torque-based monitoring system, not reliance on the reported figurines as evidence of the regulator’s decision.

Why the total is larger than either recall alone

The headline numbers refer to two different campaigns rather than one defect affecting every Tesla vehicle in China:

• 2,740,642 vehicles: an OTA update for driver-attention monitoring on China-built Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
• 2,975,910 vehicles: warning labels and software-related changes for emergency door releases across China-made and imported Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X vehicles.

A simple addition produces approximately 5.72 million vehicle instances. Because the campaigns have overlapping Model 3 and Model Y populations, that figure should not be treated as a count of unique vehicles. Even with that qualification, the combined actions constitute Tesla’s largest recall total in China described in the supplied reporting.

What Tesla owners should understand

The recalls address different moments of vehicle safety. The driver-monitoring update is intended to strengthen supervision while assisted driving is active. The door-release campaign addresses what occupants or rescuers may need to do after a crash or loss of electrical power.

The practical takeaway is that neither campaign is simply a cosmetic software update. One changes how the vehicle checks whether the driver is paying attention; the other makes a critical emergency procedure easier to identify and supplements it with post-collision window behavior. The exact remedy depends on which campaign covers a particular vehicle.