Tesla is voluntarily recalling 40,168 cars due to a massive power steering issue.
The affected models are Model S and Model X, from 2017 to 2021. Reports say that the vehicles are having issues with their software, and the defect can reduce or cut power steering assistance. According to Engadget, the defect may treat potholes and other road bumps as the steering assist torque. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) made a public filing on November 1st.
The Software Issue
A firmware release in October is the culprit in making the vehicles lose power steering. The estimate says 1% of the vehicles that were recalled have the defect. In the administration's statement, they said that it does not affect steering control but could need greater steering from the driver, especially at low speeds.
Tesla stated that 97% of the recalled vehicles have already installed the new update as of November 1. The update fixes the issue with power steering, and the owners won't need to do anything as it is already resolved.
However, 314 vehicles were detected to have the problem, as identified by Tesla. Fortunately, no injuries or deaths have been reported, as mentioned by CNBC.
It's Not the First
Tesla has also recalled vehicles just this September, and the numbers are higher. Nearly 1.1 million Tesla vehicles had an automatic window safety issue. Tesla informed the NHTSA through a letter about the issue. It said that the automaker would fix the automatic window reversal system with a software update over the air.
Although NHTSA expressed that closing the widow without the automatic reversing system may risk injury, there were no claims of crashes, injuries, or deaths. The recall affected Model 3 vehicles from 2017 to 2022, Model Y from 2020 to 2021, and Model X and Model S from 2021 to 2022, according to USA Today.
Reports say that Tesla found the problem in production tests in August, and owners will be notified by November 15th. The EVs in production and pre-delivery starting September 13th, already received the software update needed that fixes the window issue.
Not the Best Time for Recalls
Vehicular recalls are never good, as they may endanger the drivers, whatever issue it could be. However, it's an especially bad time for Tesla to be having problems with their cars. Lately, their stocks have been dropping, and their shares are now lower than $200. At the time of publishing this article, Tesla shares have dropped down to 5.78, with the shares at $191.30.
Of course, people are looking into what could be causing the drop, and again, it has led to the acquisition of Twitter. According to The Motley Fool, the Tesla CEO used some debt to purchase the social media platform. The interest payments will cost him, and he needs it to come either from the cash flow of the business or something else. This could be worrying for some investors.
You can add the number of advertisers pulling away from Twitter which might cause the tech billionaire to lose more money. It's just not the best year for Musk.
