Tesla is recalling nearly two million vehicles in the United States over fears of a software failure that can result in a failure to detect an unlatched hood, the the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday.
An unlatched hood could fully open and obstruct the driver’s view, raising the risk of a crash.
The Elon Musk founded-Tesla released an over-the-air software update to fix the issue, NHTSA added. Musk, who has been outspoken recently on his social media platform about the US presidential election, has yet to comment on this recall.
In December 2023, Tesla recalled numerous vehicles due to concerns raised by the NTHSA over autopilot technology. Despite that, there were 20 further Tesla-related crashes between January and April 2024, which prompted a new investigation, Spotlight on America reports.
The Spotlight on America report details that the NHTSA is also investigating Ford’s BlueCruise autopilot function over concerns following a number of fatal accidents.
The Tesla Model 3 is among those vehicles that is subject to recall
Tesla founder Elon Musk recently made headlines for saying that his son was ‘killed’ by the ‘woke mind virus’
Tesla will replace the wiper motor at no cost to owners, who will be notified by letter on Aug. 18.
The problems for the electronic vehicle brand extend beyond this recent recall.
Tesla has recalled the stainless steel-clad Cybertruck four times since it went on sale Nov. 30.
The new recalls, announced in documents posted in June by the NHTSA, each affect more than 11,000 trucks.
The company says in the documents that the front windshield wiper motor controller can stop working because it’s getting too much electrical current.
A wiper that fails can cut visibility, increasing the risk of a crash. The Austin, Texas, company says it knows of no crashes or injuries caused by the problem.
Tesla will replace the wiper motor at no cost to owners, who will be notified by letter on Aug. 18.
This past April, Jeremy Junkins, a Cybertruck owner since March 8, took to social media with a long list of complaints about his brand new vehicle.
His frustrations might not come as a surprise to some. Tesla temporarily halted all Cybertruck deliveries in mid-April due to reports that the accelerator pedal was becoming stuck, which led to Tesla recalling nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks.
Some of the car’s less favorable features have been called out in a series of clips posted by Junkins.
A Tesla Cybertruck parked next to several other vehicles
One of his warnings goes to anyone who gets anxious easily, as he suggests owning the striking mode of transportation draws a lot of attention.
‘The Tesla Cybertruck is not good if you have social anxiety because people are always watching you,’ Junkins said in a TikTok video he posted on April 17.
Other Cybertruck owners besides Judkins have been pretty outspoken about their issues with the vehicle.
Some have described the outside of the truck as ‘a fingerprint magnet’ given that it has a stainless steel coating. Others have claimed that their trucks appeared to be rusting, which a Cybertruck engineer publicly denied on X in February.
‘Stainless is reactive and free iron that sits on it will rust. It’s surface contamination only and can be cleaned off easily,’ Wes Morrill wrote.
The often noticeably large gaps between panels on the exterior of the truck have also raised concerns among some Cybertruck owners. Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee attributed this issue to its stainless steel construction.
Then there’s also the freak cases of the Cybertruck failing right out of the gate.
Despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk touting it as ‘apocalypse proof’ that certainly wasn’t true for entrepreneur Thomas Remo.
Remo shared a video of him picking up the Cybertruck only to have it break ‘ not even six inches off the lot.’ It proceeded to fail another ’30 times’ throughout his first day owning it, according to Remo.
Tesla isn’t having the best year so far, with Musk announcing in mid-April that he was laying off 14,000 employees, some of whom were on crucial teams involved with engineering the EVs.
