Tesla recalls over 40,000 US vehicles due to power steering flaw

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla is recalling over 40,000 of its cars in the US due to a potential flaw in its power steering assist system.

Tesla estimates that about one per cent of its affected 40,168 Model S and Model X vehicles may have a software bug that affects its electronic power assist steering (EPAS) system.

These vehicles, manufactured between August 2017 and December 2020, got new calibration data for their EPAS system when updated to firmware release 2022.36, according to the recall report filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The software update led to at least 314 vehicles misclassifying bumps and potholes as unexpected torque, leading to “reduced or lost power steering assist”, the report noted.

This reduced power may require greater steering effort, especially at lower speeds, and may increase the risk of a crash, it said, adding, however, that Tesla is “not aware of any injuries or deaths related to this condition”.

The EV manufacturer said over 97 per cent of the recalled vehicles have already installed a software update to address the recall issue.

Tesla’s latest vehicle recall is yet another in a list of such actions taken on the Musk-owned company by NHTSA this year.

In September, the company was ordered to recall nearly 1.1 million vehicles in the US due to a safety issue with the windows in its Model 3, Model Y, as well as Model S and Model X vehicles.

The company found that its automatic window reversal system may not react correctly after detecting an obstruction, and said it would attempt to fix the issue via an over-the-air software update.

The company also recalled about 130,000 cars in May after it was found their touch screens can overheat and go blank.

Earlier in February, it recalled thousands of vehicles for various software-related reasons, including its Boombox feature that let users play custom sounds from an external speaker, windshield defrosting problems, and due to the “rolling stops” of some of its cars with the full self-driving (Beta) software.

In the same month, the company also had to recall over 817,000 vehicles since there was a likelihood that the seat belt reminder in these cars may not sound when the vehicles are started and the driver hasn’t buckled up.

Tesla’s stock has also fallen over the year, sinking to a 52-week low on Monday amid Mr Musk’s rocky start as Twitter’s new boss.

The EV manufacturer’s shares plunged over 4 per cent to $196.66 on Monday after the new Twitter boss tweeted that “independent-minded” voters should support Republicans in Tuesday’s midterms.

“Fundamentally, the weakness in Tesla stock has to be blamed on Twitter. More specifically, the weakness has to be blamed on Elon Musk, who now runs both companies,” Barron’s senior writer Al Root wrote.