NHTSA investigates: Tesla cars could loose steering wheels
The US safety agency NHTSA is once more out steering against Tesla, and this time the company could have really screwed up. The NHTSA is investigating two reports of steering wheels that fell off while driving.
So far, the NHTSA has found the vehicles were shipped without mounting bolts.
Should these reports prove accurate, the agency could order Tesla to issue a recall that would affect a good 120,000 Model Y in the 2023 model year. And this time, Tesla won’t be able to solve the issue with a simple OTA. The agency made Tesla issue a recall over a problem with the Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in February, which was solved via an over-the-air update.
At the same time, Tesla is not the only company having a screw loose lately. As reported, Nissan has just issued a recall for 1,063 Ariya EVs in the USA because of the risk of the steering wheel coming loose. Unlike Tesla, though, where the findings point to mistakes being made on the shop floor, the Nissan EVs were delivered fine but were screwed up (not) by technicians during repairs related to a different recall. But hey, who’s to be confused?!
Nissan has since sent guidelines to all technicians detailing the repair step-by-step, including images.
Noteworthy enough, one of the affected Tesla drivers tweeted a similar picture series to Tesla, asking rather politely why the steering wheel came off while driving.
@elonmusk @teardowntitan @CorySteuben
I am not a tech person. I would greatly appreciate a response from a technical/ mechanical professional. What is missing and why did the steering wheel fall off? pic.twitter.com/TStQ1nveMV
— Prerak & Neha Patel (@preneh24) February 7, 2023
Tesla at first asked the owner to pay for the repairs – which leaves us a little incredulous – before offering to cover the costs and finally buying back the Model Y. Should the NHTSA issue an official recall, Tesla would, of course, have to cover the expenses.
According to NHTSA data, Tesla reported 19 US recall campaigns in 2022 covering more than 3.7 million vehicles, including four callbacks in November.
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