Tesla is once again under federal investigation by NHTSA, the US federal agency in charge of traffic safety. This time, the institution decided to open these investigations after the filing of a dozen complaints from owners of Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. In question, a loss of control of the steering and the power steering.
Tesla, the world leader in electric cars, is once again under federal investigation by NHTSA. Indeed, the American federal agency has justformalize the opening of an investigation on the last Tesla Model 3 and Model Y manufactured in 2023.
NHTSA is still investigating Tesla
The reason ? The institution has received a dozen complaints from landlords in which they claim to have lost steering control and power steering. On July 31, 2023, the NHTSA therefore published a preliminary assessment notice on this worrying situation:
“The Malfunctions Investigation Office (editor’s note: Office of Defects Investigation; ODI) opens preliminary assessment on 2023 model year Tesla Model 3 vehicles due to reports of inability to steer vehicle and loss of power steering,” specifies the organization.
Also read: Tesla recalls several thousand Model Ys, bolts are loose!
280,000 vehicles affected
If the NHTSA was not really stingy with details, it therefore confirms that the ODI received five complaints making the state of an inability to steer the vehicle. The other seven reports indicate the loss of power steering, which inevitably requires increased effort to control the car. This survey aims to determine the extent, frequency, cause (manufacturing error, poor workmanship, etc.) and seriousness of the problem.
So far, none of the incidents reported to NHTSA have resulted in injury or death. Nevertheless, the agency specifies that one of them ended by an accident and by the fire of the vehicle concerned. In total, the NHTSA investigations relate to a significant number of vehicles: at least 280,000 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y manufactured in 2023.
Note that the conclusions of this preliminary assessment may result in a recall. If this is the case, the owners concerned could be forced to bring their Tesla to the dealership, unless the manufacturer manages to solve the problem via a software update, as is often the case. As a reminder, this isn’t the first time NHTSA has investigated Tesla. Since 2021, the agency has been investigating safety issues with Autopilot, while it looked into worrying cases of detached steering wheels in March 2023.
Source: Electrek