Austin, United States: Global electric vehicle giant Tesla is recalling close to 1.1 million vehicles in the US as the window automatic reversal system on its vehicles may not respond properly after detecting an obstacle, increasing the risk of injury.
Vehicles being recalled include 2017-2022 Model 3, 2020-2021 Model Y, 2021-2022 Model S and Model X.
The electric vehicle maker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it will perform an over-the-air software update of the automatic window reversal system. NHTSA observed a closing window without a proper automatic reversing system could apply excessive force by pinching the driver or passenger before retracting which is hazardous.
Tesla shared that it is not aware of any warranty claims, field reports, crashes, injuries or deaths related to the recall. The employees identified the window automatic reversal system performance during product testing in August.
“Greater than expected variations in response to pinch detection” added Tesla.
NHTSA sited that the vehicles failed to meet federal motor vehicle safety standards for power windows.
After extensive additional testing, Tesla determined that the vehicles’ pinch detection and retraction performance in the test results did not meet the automatic reversal system requirements.
Tesla stated that starting September 13, vehicles in production and pre delivery received a software update that adjusted power-operated window operation to the requirements. The software update enhances the calibration of the vehicle’s automatic window reversal system behavior.
The news resulted in a 3.5 percentage drop in Tesla shares. Tesla CEO Mr. Elon Musk took to Twitter to criticize the description of the recall.
“The terminology is outdated & inaccurate. This is a tiny over-the-air software update. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no injuries,” Mr. Musk remarked.