Tesla is recalling 376,000 electric vehicles in the United States due to a power steering assist failure that could make steering more difficult, particularly at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash, the company said on Friday.
The recall follows a year-long investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after multiple Tesla owners reported steering failures, including instances where they were unable to turn the wheel or required increased effort. NHTSA previously noted that more than 50 vehicles were towed due to the issue.
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Tesla said the issue affects certain 2023 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles running older software, which may experience an overvoltage breakdown that overstresses motor drive components on the printed circuit board. While steering remains functional if this occurs while driving, the power assist may fail once the vehicle stops and remain disabled when it moves again.
The company has identified 3,012 warranty claims and 570 field reports potentially linked to the issue but said it had no reports of any crashes related to the defect. Tesla released an over-the-air software update in October to address the problem but only filed the recall report this week. As of January 23, 99% of affected vehicles in the U.S. had installed the update.
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Tesla said the recall is not related to NHTSA’s ongoing investigation into allegations of steering control loss. The automaker decided to issue a global recall on January 16 after a foreign regulator raised concerns about the issue.
This marks Tesla’s second major recall of the year, following a January recall of about 239,000 vehicles due to malfunctioning rear-view cameras. Tesla shares fell 3% in mid-day trading on Friday following the announcement.