Tesla is asked to withdraw 158,000 vehicles due to potentially dangerous display failures on Monday after the company owned by Elon Musk recalled 9,500 Y models with defective roofs
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sent a letter to Tesla
- The letter calls on Tesla to withdraw 158,000 Model S and Model X vehicles
- All Model S cars sold in 2012-2018 and Model X models from 2016-2018
- The problems come from a memory card that when completely turned off functions
- The memory card is partially filled each time the vehicle is started
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is asking Tesla to withdraw approximately 158,000 vehicles due to potential dangers caused by touch screen failures.
NHTSA recently sent a letter to the company owned by Elon Musk stating that it is investigating a potential defect affecting the rear-view cameras and air-conditioning systems that mist the windows.
The document specifically mentions the Model S vehicles produced from 2012 to 2018 and the Model X from 2016 to 2018 – these models are designed with a certain processor that fails to reach storage capacity.
The NHTS urges Tesla to notify the owners of the named vehicles of the recall, if the company refuses, it must provide an explanation of the decision.
The letter comes just months after Tesla was forced to withdraw 9,000 Model X cars due to the roof finish and improperly placed screws, which caused the roofs to fly while driving.
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The document specifically mentions the Model S vehicles produced from 2012 to 2018 and the Model X (pictured) from 2016 to 2018 – these models are designed with a certain processor that fails to reach storage capacity.
From 2012 to 2018, Tesla sold a total of about 531,500 vehicles, and the cars mentioned could amount to about 15-20% currently on the road.
The problem comes from the memory chip manufactured by Nividia with an integrated eight gigabyte flash memory device, which is partially filled every time the vehicle is turned on.
And when it reaches full capacity, the hardware fails.
Failures were observed in the rear / spare room and loss of air condition which demisted and thawed the windows.
A potential defect affecting rear-view cameras and air-conditioning systems that defog windows affects Model S (pictured) and Model X vehicles
The issue also has an impact on the autopilot’s advanced driving system, along with turn signals, bells, driver detection and alerts associated with these vehicle functions.
“While reviewing our data, Tesla confirmed that all units will inevitably fail, given the memory device’s finite storage capacity,” said Stephen Ridella, director of the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation.
NHTSA opened the investigation in June last year, in which Tesla tried to correct it with “over-the-air” software updates.
However, the agency notes that the effort was “procedurally and substantially insufficient”.
The email came just months after NHTSA mandated Tesla to remember the 9,500 November 2016 Model X cars, which died to separate and the screws that were not tightened properly.
NHTS urges Tesla to notify the owners of those vehicles of the recall if the company refuses to provide an explanation for the decision (pictured is a Model X)
NHTSA said the cosmetic floor of the front roof and spine could have been adhered to without first using the primer and that one or both parts of the trim could separate from the vehicle while driving.
In October, a Tesla customer in California posted a video on social media showing him driving on a highway in his new Model Y, after his roof flew just two hours after he drove her off the lot.
“Hey @elonmusk, why didn’t you tell us Tesla was selling convertibles now?” wrote the driver.
“Because the roof of our new Model Y fell on the highway.”
The driver also wrote: “I heard that there were some problems with Tesla’s quality assurance, but I don’t know how you can miss something as important as the attached roof.
The driver said that the roof fell “literally two hours after leaving the parking lot” of the office where he bought the car.
He writes that he immediately returned the vehicle to the dealership.