Tesla is asked to recall 158,000 vehicles due to potentially dangerous screen failures, months after Elon Musk’s company recalled 9,500 Model Y with defective roofs
- The National Road Traffic Safety Administration has sent a letter to Tesla
- The letter asks Tesla to collect 158,000 Model S and Model X vehicles
- All Model S cars sold in 2012-2018 and Model X vehicles from 2016-2018
- The problem stems from a memory card that, when completely turned off, features
- The memory card is partially filled each time the vehicle is started
The National Road Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is asking Tesla to collect about 158,000 vehicles due to the potential dangers of touch screen failures.
NHTSA recently sent a letter to Elon Musk-owned firm stating that it is investigating a potential defect that affects rear-view cameras and air conditioning systems that blow windows out.
The document specifically cites Model S vehicles produced from 2012 to 2018 and Model X from 2016 to 2018 – these models are designed with a particular processor that fails when storage capacity is reached.
The NHTS is asking Tesla to notify the owners of the vehicles mentioned about the recall, if the company refuses, it must provide an explanation of that decision.
The letter arrives a few months after Tesla was forced to remove 9,000 Model X cars due to the roof finish and incorrectly placed screws that caused the roofs to fly when driving.
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The document specifically cites Model S vehicles produced from 2012 to 2018 and Model X (pictured) from 2016 to 2018 – these models are designed with a particular processor that fails when storage capacity is reached
From 2012 to 2018, Tesla sold around 531,500 vehicles in total and the cars collected could reach around 15 to 20 percent currently on the roads.
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 it reaches full capacity, the hardware fails.
The failures were observed in the rearview mirror / backup camera and loss of air conditioning that defrosts and defrosts the windows.
A potential defect that affects rear-view cameras and air conditioning systems that deflate windows is affecting Model S (photo) and Model X vehicles
The fault also affects the autopilot’s advanced steering system, along with turn signals, audible bells, driver detection and alerts associated with these vehicle functions. ‘
“During our review of the data, Tesla provided confirmation that all units will inevitably fail due to the finite storage capacity of the memory device,” said Stephen Ridella, director of the NHTSA’s Defect Investigation Office, in the letter.
NHTSA opened the investigation last June, in which Tesla tried to rectify it with software updates ‘over-the-air’.
However, the agency notes that the effort was ‘procedural and substantially insufficient’.
The e-mail comes just a few months after NHTSA ordered Tesla to recall about 9,500 2016 Model X cars in November, to cut it off and screws that may not have been properly tightened.
The NHTS is asking Tesla to notify the owners of the named vehicles of the recall, if the company refuses, it must provide an explanation of that decision (pictured is a Model X)
NHTSA said the cosmetic finish on the front and lumbar roof may have been adhered without first using a primer, and one or both parts of the finish may detach from the vehicle while it is being driven.
In October, a Tesla customer from California posted a video on social media showing him driving down a highway in his new Model Y after the roof flew just two hours after he pulled out of the parking lot.
‘Hey @elonmusk, why didn’t you tell us that Tesla sells convertibles now?’ the driver wrote.
‘Because the roof of our new Y model fell on the highway.’
The driver also wrote: ‘I heard there were some problems with Tesla’s quality insurance, but I don’t know how you can fail to notice something as important as fixing the roof.
The driver said the roof fell “literally two hours after leaving the parking lot” at the dealership where he bought the car.
He writes that he immediately returned the vehicle to the dealership.