Numerous Tesla cars are currently affected by a recall in the USA. Almost 1.1 million vehicles have a malfunction in the automatic window regulators, reports the international news agency Reuters. This poses a risk of injury, as the Federal Highway and Vehicle Safety Authority (NHTSA) announced on Thursday. All Tesla vehicle models are affected: Model 3 models from 2017 to 2022, Model Y from 2020 to 2021 and Model S and Model X from 2021 to 2022.
The sensor system installed in Tesla vehicles, which normally detects an obstacle when the windows are raised, does not work correctly. NHTSA advised that without the auto reverse feature, the power windows can exert excessive force. As a result, vehicle occupants can get their hands trapped. As a result, the vehicles do not meet the relevant requirements of a nationwide motor vehicle safety standard. Tesla is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this, it said in a statement. Employees of the US automaker found the error during product tests in August.
Tesla wants to install a software update on the affected vehicles to fix the error. The affected vehicles are said to have received a software update from September 13 in production and before delivery, which should fix the error.
Elon Musk criticized the term “recall” via Twitter on Thursday. “The designation is outdated and inaccurate. It is a tiny over-the-air software update,” said the Tesla boss. For a long time, Tesla had been making software updates without informing owners or regulators.
Tesla recalls are not uncommon. At the end of August, the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in Germany recalled 14,807 vehicles of all Tesla models. According to this, insufficient cooling of the processors could lead to a “failure of various vehicle systems”. Almost 210,000 cars were even recalled worldwide – more than half of them in the USA. The NHTSA had already started the recall in the USA in early May. In April there was another recall of almost 130,000 Tesla Model 3s in China because of a safety risk. A problem with the inverter could cause the rear motor to fail.
At the end of last year there was a recall involving hundreds of thousands of Tesla vehicles. In China, around 200,000 cars were affected by a security risk on the hood and trunk. There was a risk of an unexpectedly opening bonnet. In addition, opening and closing the trunk lid could damage the rear camera wiring harness. In the US, the recall affected an additional 356,000 Model 3 vehicles built between 2017 and 2020, and 119,000 Model S vehicles built between 2014 and 2021.
Sources: Reuters, KBA, t-online, with material from dpa and afp
