Not the kind of news we usually read about Tesla, but Elon Musk’s electric car company is recalling more than 475,000 of its Model 3 and Model S EVs to fix reverse camera and trunk issues that increase the risk of crashing, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said last week.
The US road safety regulator said that the total included 356,309 Model 3 vehicles from 2017-2020. “The rearview camera cable harness may be damaged by the opening and closing of the trunk lid, preventing the rearview camera image from displaying,” it said, reported by Reuters. Tesla received 2,301 warranty claims and 601 field reports regarding this issue for US market vehicles.
As for the Model S, it’s 119,009 units due to front hood problems. Latch problems may cause the front trunk to open “without warning and obstruct the driver’s visibility, increasing the risk of a crash,” Tesla said, adding that it was not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths related to the issues cited in the recalls.
Over in China, around 200,000 Teslas will be recalled, the State Administration for Market Regulation said last week. The total includes 19,697 imported Model S cars, 35,836 imported Model 3 cars and 144,208 China-made Model 3 cars.
Tesla is recalling these EVs produced from 2015 and 2020 due to possible security risks such as a sudden opening of the trunk lid during movement, according to the regulator. As for the Model 3 boot/reverse camera issue, “this will affect the driver’s vision when reversing, and in extreme cases will increase the risk of collision,” the regulator added.
There could be more recall woes for Tesla, as NHTSA has been discussing another camera issue with the automaker, while probing the Tesla’s driver assistant system.
Earlier in December, the federal regulator said it was talking with Tesla about sideview camera issues in some vehicles. CNBC had reported that Tesla was replacing defective repeater cameras in the front fenders of some US-made vehicles without recalling the parts.
NHTSA had also been investigating 580,000 Tesla vehicles over the company’s decision to allow games to be played on the cars’ big screens while in motion. Tesla subsequently agreed to disable gaming features while its cars are on the move. Under pressure from NHTSA, Tesla in February last year agreed to recall 135,000 vehicles with touchscreen displays that could fail and increase the risk of a crash.
In August 2021, NHTSA opened a formal safety probe into Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system after a series of accidents involving Teslas and emergency vehicles.
Latches and cables? Just normal carmaker things that all car companies go through. If Teslas intrigue you, check out our Model S long-term owner review, where we detailed three years of driving, charging and living with the EV in Malaysia. The smaller Model 3 – now the best selling EV in Europe – is now being sold by the Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders Association of Malaysia (PEKEMA) from RM289k, thanks to the Budget 2022 EV tax exemptions.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
so how? what about the grey imported tesla here?
will Pekema help to send back for claims? will they diam diam jer treat as nothing?
Ahhh, this time Tesla is taking leaf out of P2 books by doing a recall-but-not-a-recall and on the sly changing out parts without informing customers. 500k is nearly all their cars, so this is a huge concern. So expensive car but quality worse than P1 now danger to users, Tesla never think SAFETY FIRST!
Who cares when rich ppl throw their money…
just ask them 2 buy a new Tesla won’t do any harm