As part of ongoing issues with the suspension systems in Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, the company has recalled 2,791 vehicles to fix the problem. It asks the owners of the affected vehicles to bring them to a service center.
The NHTSA has documents related to the recall on file. Tesla has wrestled with manufacturing-related issues affecting suspension separation for a while, including multiple recalls in the United States and China.
In this case, a suspension lateral link could separate from the subframe and affect the wheel alignment. This could cause the cars to become unstable and result in a crash.
Tesla’s service centers will tighten or replace the lateral link fasteners at no cost to the vehicles’ owners. It expects to mail out the recall notices on or about December 24.
Tesla has sometimes wrestled with regulators, including having to deal with the NHTSA’s probe into Autopilot’s ability to recognize emergency vehicles. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy expressed irritation over backlash over the appointment of Tesla critic Missy Cummings to a senior advisory position in the NHTSA.
The backlash included harassment that prompted Cummings to delete her Twitter account. Elon Musk called her “extremely biased” in a tweet.
A petition to have her removed from the senior advisory position currently has more than 30,000 signatures. The petition says Cummings has a conflict of interest and is too biased against Tesla. It cites her membership on Veoneer’s Board of Directors and association with an alleged group of Tesla critics and short sellers called TESLAQ.
However, regulators deny that Cummings’ association with Veoneer and TESLAQ is a problem.
“It’s a calculated attempt to distract from the real safety issues at hand that everybody should be focused on,” Homendy told CNN Business.
Tesla will occasionally work with regulators on some issues like improved data security. It also operates a datacenter in China to address the Chinese government’s concerns about the potential use of Tesla’s cameras for espionage.
The concerns may have been sparked by the use of its exterior cameras for its “Sentinel Mode,” which is capable of collecting evidence of crimes like vandalism or theft of Tesla vehicles and has helped law enforcement authorities solve a variety of cases, including hate crimes and one case involving a series of drive-by shootings on a Californian highway. China has banned Tesla owners from parking their vehicles at government facilities due to concerns that the cameras could capture footage of sensitive activities.
Hardware used by Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software is capable of sending driving data back to its servers, which has sparked concerns about user privacy from consumer advocacy groups like Consumer Reports.
These concerns primarily involve Tesla’s interior cameras, including one mounted to the rear view mirror that Tesla recently activated to track driver alertness in response to incidents in which Tesla owners relied too much on the Autopilot or Full Self-Driving.
Past recalls of Tesla vehicles also include addressing of issues related to Autopilot, a flaw in the braking system, and issues with the seat belt. Most recalls of Tesla vehicles seem to involve manufacturing flaws.
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