WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tesla Inc has agreed to replace 134,951 Model S and Model X vehicles with touchscreen displays that could fail and raise the risk of an accident following U.S. automotive safety regulators A recall was sought last month, according to a recall posted on the government’s website Tuesday.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) made the unusual recall request in Jan’s formal letter. 13 to Tesla, stating that they were to swiftly conclude that the Model S 2012-2018 and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles were a safety issue. Manufacturers typically agree to voluntary arrangements before the automated safety group formally requests a recall.
The group said a touch-screen failure raised serious safety issues, including the loss of rear-view or rear-view cameras, external steep sign lights, and windshield protection and disinfection systems. which could “reduce the visibility of the driver in bad weather.”
NHTSA had asked Tesla to respond to its recall request by Jan. 27. Tesla agreed the same day to the recall, the company said.
Tesla said in its file with NHTSA “for giving administrative scrutiny to the study and to ensure the best ownership experience for our customers” they agreed to a voluntary recall.
NHTSA opened a probe in June 2020 into complaints that the failure of a media control unit (MCU) did not cause touchscreen displays to work.
The group said other manufacturers have issued several recalls for similar safety issues stemming from the failure of the touchscreen.
NHTSA said in November when it updated their probe that it reviewed 12,523 claims and complaints about the case.
NHTSA said last month, “During our review of the data, Tesla provided assurance that failure of all units will be inevitable due to the complete storage capacity of the memory device. ”
Many complaints had stated that Tesla was asking owners to pay to install this unit once a warranty had expired. Tesla will replace the defective part and give money back to customers who paid for a replacement part that failed due to lifetime wear and tear.
Tesla acknowledged the problem but said that if the display did not work, “the driver can perform a shoulder check and use the mirrors. If the screen is not visible to control the climate control position and disinfection, the driver will be able to clean the windshield manually. ”
The recall will begin on March 30. NHTSA requested a recall of 158,000 vehicles but Tesla said the recall does not include some vehicles with upgraded processors built after March 2018.
Tesla said 88% of U.S. homeowners have received over-the-air updates to some duties that could be missed if demonstrations fail.
Reciting with David Shepardson; Edited by Kirsten Donovan and Bernadette Baum