With models from the leading electric car manufacturerTeslaare in the United States Problems in security technology have been identified. The traffic safety authority NHTSA demanded the Electric car– Manufacturer therefore on Wednesday in a letterTo order back 158,716 cars. The authorities discovered a defect in the on-board computer in these cars. As a result, numerous technical features failed, and safety devices did not work properly, it says in the letter.
According to CNBC Numerous drivers had previously complained about problems with the large touchscreen, which apparently led to the loss of safety-relevant functions.
According to the NHTSA, the sedans of the Model S from 2012 to 2018 and all-terrain vehicles of the Model X from 2016 to 2018 are affected by the defect. Tesla is not obliged to comply with the authority’s request. If the company does not want to recall the wagons, it must provide the NHTSA with a reason.
Various functions failed – apparently also the autopilot
The ordered recall would make up about 10 percent of all cars that Tesla produced by the end of last year. Tesla announced its millionth electric vehicle in March 2020, according to CEO Elon Musk tweeted at the time. In the past three quarters of 2020, Tesla had produced around 400,000 additional electric cars.
Owners of affected Tesla vehicles reported, according to CNBC, that the display of their Media Control Units (MCU) sometimes completely or partially failed. The touchscreen issues affected the ability to use the heating, air conditioning, and defrosting systems in their vehicles, or using the reversing cameras and autopilot functions when parking and driving.
Older vehicles in particular are affected by defective on-board computers
According to the report, the media control unit failure rate was around 17 percent for older Tesla Model S vehicles (2012 to 2015) and up to 4 percent for vehicles Tesla made between 2016 to 2018. The U.S. Transportation Safety Agency expects MCU failures to increase the older the cars get and the longer they’re in use.
According to CNBC, Tesla is said to have offered a “warranty extension” to reassure customers angry about the defect. The recall request by the supervisory authority comes at an inopportune time for Tesla: The shares of Tesla have had an enormous run on the stock exchange in the past few months and major shareholder Tesla boss Elon Musk has meanwhile become richest man in the world made. Tesla is worth more than its competitors on the stock market General Motors, ford, Toyota, Honda, Fiat Chrysler and Volkswagen together.