Washington— Due to a malfunction in the power steering assist feature, which might make the cars more difficult to steer,
Especially at low speeds, increasing the chance of a collision, Tesla said on Friday that it was recalling 376,000 of its electric cars in the US.
Midday trading saw a 3% decline in Tesla shares. After some Tesla owners noticed steering issues, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted.
An investigation for more than a year before the recall. Some reported more effort, while others said they couldn’t spin the wheel.
According to the NHTSA last year, the problem reportedly resulted in the towing of over 50 automobiles. Citing Tesla papers and customer and former staff interviews,
Reuters revealed in late 2023 that since 2016, tens of thousands of owners have suffered from early breakdowns of suspension or steering components.
According to a Tesla filing with the NHTSA, certain 2023 Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers with outdated software may have an overvoltage failure,
Which might put undue strain on printed circuit board motor drive components. According to Tesla, a visual alarm is issued and steering is unaffected.
If an overstress scenario arises while the car is moving. However, the steering assistance may malfunction once the car stops and stay turned off when it starts up again.
As of January 10, Tesla said that it had not received any reports of any accidents associated with the problem, but it had discovered 3,012 warranty claims and 570 field reports.
That could be connected to it. According to Tesla, the recall has nothing to do with the ongoing NHTSA investigation into claims of steering control loss.
Although the business addressed the problem with an over-the-air software update in October, the recall report was not filed until this week.
According to Tesla, 99 percent of the impacted cars in the US have the update loaded as of January 23. After an unidentified foreign authority launched an inquiry and voiced concerns.
About the problem, Tesla said on January 16 that it had chosen to implement a global steering recall. This is the automaker’s second significant recall of the year.
Due to rear-view camera malfunctions, Tesla recalled around 239,000 cars in January. After a successful 2024, Tesla’s stock has dropped almost 10% this year.