US agency asks Tesla to recall 158,000 EVs

Tesla has been asked by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall 158,000 Model S (certain 2012 to 2018 cars) and Model X (certain 2016 to 2018 cars) EVs relating to potential touch screen issues, various media report.

The recall concerns the EVs’ media control unit which could fail and stop touchscreens working, presenting a safety risk, Reuters says.

The NHTSA made the unusual request in a formal letter to Tesla Wednesday after upgrading a safety probe in November, the news agency adds.

The issue could see the loss of rear-camera image display when in reverse and reduced rear visibility when backing up as well as the Autopilot driver assistance system, according to the NHTSA.

The letter says the agency considers the screens defective because their computer processors have a finite number of program-and-erase cycles, the NHTSA saying the screens could fail in five to six years, which isn’t sufficient for safety-critical features.

The agency adds that malfunctioning windshield defogging and defrosting may reduce driver visibility in bad weather, increasing crash risk.

It determined from data supplied by Tesla there were more than 12,000 customer complaints, claims and field reports relating to the screens.

Experts say the NHTSA’s letter to Tesla means Tesla has resisted a recall the agency believes is necessary, Stuff says in an Associated Press (AP) based story.

It adds that messages were left Wednesday seeking comment from Tesla in Palo Alto, California.

Tesla tried to fix the issue with several over-the-air software updates, but the NHTSA says it tentatively believes the fixes are insufficient, Stuff adds.

The AP report says If Tesla formally decides not to do a recall, it has to provide the NHTSA with an explanation.

Tesla has no press office to contact for comment, and the company has not made a statement on either its Twitter feed or that of chief executive Elon Musk’s Ars Technica reports.

“The company has since redesigned the MCU to use a 64GB eMMC, so more recent vehicles should not be affected. The more popular Models 3 and Y are unaffected by this issue,” Ars Technica adds.

It says Tesla has replaced 7777 under warranty and about another 4700 not under warranty.

Tesla issued a warranty update late last year.

“For customer peace of mind, we are providing additional coverage on some Model S and Model X vehicles built before March 2018 that are equipped with an 8GB embedded MultiMediaCard (“8GB eMMC”) in the media control unit. We are aware that this component may malfunction due to accumulated wear. If this occurs, it could result in a blank or intermittently blank center display, or an alert indicating that a memory storage device has degraded and to contact Service. This condition has no impact on basic vehicle driving functionality and controllability, and we are not aware of any injuries or collisions relating to it.”

Meanwhile, Tesla has tweeted its Model Y long-range AWD has just received a five-star safety rating from the NHTSA.