Tesla is being asked to recall 158,000 vehicles due to potentially dangerous display defects months after Elon Musk’s company recalled 9,500 Model Y with faulty roofs
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sent Tesla a letter
- The letter asks Tesla to recall 158,000 Model S and Model X vehicles
- All Model S cars sold in 2012-2018 and Model X cars from 2016-2018
- The problems stem from a memory card that, when completely disabled, shuts down functions
- Each time the car is started, the memory card is partially filled
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is asking Tesla to recall approximately 158,000 vehicles due to potential dangers from touchscreen malfunctions.
NHTSA recently sent a letter to Elon Musk’s company saying it is investigating a possible defect affecting rear view cameras and air conditioning systems that demist windows.
The document specifically mentions Model S vehicles produced from 2012 to 2018 and Model X from 2016 to 2018 – these models are designed with a particular processor that will shut down when the storage capacity is reached.
NHTS is urging Tesla to notify owners of said vehicles of the recall. If the company refuses, it must provide a statement of that decision.
The letter comes just months after Tesla had to recall 9,000 Model X cars due to roof linings and improperly placed bolts that caused roofs to fly off while driving.
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The document specifically mentions Model S vehicles produced between 2012 and 2018 and Model X (shown) from 2016 to 2018 – these models are designed with a particular processor that will shut down when the storage capacity is reached
Between 2012 and 2018, Tesla sold a total of approximately 531,500 vehicles, and the recalled cars could be around 15 to 20 percent on the road at this point.
The problem stems from the memory chip made by Nividia with an integrated eight gigabyte flash memory device, which is partially filled every time the vehicle is started.
And when full capacity is reached, the hardware fails.
The flaws have been seen in the rear view camera / rear view camera and loss of the air conditioning that demists and defrosts windows.
A potential defect affecting rear view cameras and air conditioning systems that demist the windows affects Model S (pictured) and Model X vehicles
The malfunction also affects Autopilot’s advanced steering system, along with flashing lights, audible tones, driver detection and alerts related to these vehicle functions. ‘
“During our review of the data, Tesla confirmed that all units will inevitably fail given the limited storage capacity of the memory device,” Stephen Ridella, director of NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation, said in the letter.
The NHTSA opened its investigation last June, in which Tesla had attempted to rectify it with over-the-air software updates.
However, the agency notes that the effort was “procedurally and substantively insufficient.”
The email comes just months after the NHTSA ordered Tesla to recall approximately 9,500 2016 Model X cars in November to trim that may come loose and any bolts that may not be properly tightened.
NHTS is urging Tesla to notify owners of said vehicles of the recall, and if the company refuses, it must provide an explanation of that decision (Model X shown)
NHTSA said the front and spine cosmetic eaves may have been attached without using primer first, and one or both parts of the vehicle’s trim may separate while it is being driven.
In October, a Tesla customer from California posted a video to social media showing him driving down a highway in his all-new Model Y after the roof flew off just two hours after driving it off the parking lot.
“Hey @elonmusk, why didn’t you tell us Tesla is now selling convertibles?” the driver wrote.
“Because the roof of our brand new Model Y fell onto the highway.”
The driver also wrote, “I had heard there were some issues with Tesla’s quality insurance, but I don’t know how you can miss something as important as attaching the roof.
The driver said the roof fell off “literally two hours after leaving the parking lot” of the dealer where he bought the car.
He writes that he immediately returned the vehicle to the dealer.