However, the Feds, in the form of NHTSA, are not satisfied with this strategy and sent a letter (PDF) to Tesla today urging the company to institute a recall that would notify owners of 158,000 Model S and Model X vehicles built before March 2018. As the letter explains, losing access to the touch screen means losing the backup camera and controls for things like defogging the windshield, which they argue can cause accidents.
Like TechCrunch points out, they also write that “Tesla has provided confirmation that all drives will inevitably fail due to the finite storage capacity of the memory device. Tesla provided its own statistical model showing the number of projected weekly MCU repairs from 2020 to 2028, estimating that replacement rates for MCU failures will peak in early 2022 and will gradually decrease until (almost) the full turnover of the play to be carried out in 2028. ”
The letter seeks a Tesla order by January 27. Earlier today Tesla openly promoted NHTSA’s five-star safety rating for Model Y, but did not publicly comment on the recall request.