Federal regulators require Tesla Inc. recall about 158,000 vehicles for safety reasons, which would be one of the biggest safety actions of the electric vehicle manufacturer.
The National Traffic Safety Administration asked Tesla, in a letter on January 13, to recall some Model S luxury sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles. NHTSA requested the recall because car touch screens may fail after a few years use, affecting safety functions such as demisting and spare cameras.
Some car safety memories have reached millions of vehicles. Although historically modest, the action would be a relatively large memory for Tesla, which has far fewer cars on the road than some rivals. The Silicon Valley automaker last year delivered nearly 500,000 vehicles globally, about 205,600 of them in the United States, according to market research firm Motor Intelligence. Tesla does not sell by region.
Tesla does not have to remember the vehicles, although NHTSA said in the letter that if the carmaker does not take action, it must provide an explanation for its decision. The agency can then take the matter to a public hearing and eventually try to force a revocation through the courts.
Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst at Guidehouse Insights, said the withdrawal request was significant and could cost between $ 300 million and $ 500 million.