Washington, D.C. – October 16, 2022 – Since the beginning of 2022, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has had nine recalls, in total affecting a total of 3.8 million vehicles. Besides the recalls, the company is also subject to three ongoing investigations by the U.S. government’s auto safety regulator over several issues, with one concerning Tesla’s collisions with emergency vehicles.
Malfunctioning rearview cameras
The first Tesla recall came in early January, affecting more than 350,000 2017-2020 Tesla Model 3 cars. This was caused by malfunctioning rearview cameras.
In-your-face hoods
Also in January, an issue with hoods that may open while driving caused a recall of the 2014-2020 Tesla Model S cars. Almost 120,000 vehicles were affected on this occasion.
Cars not stopping
In February, it was discovered that some Tesla cars might come to a rolling stop at a stop sign while on autopilot. This maneuver is not only dangerous but also illegal, so the software on these vehicles was updated to prevent it from happening. More than 50,000 cars mid-size and luxury cars were affected.
The seat belt chime not going off
That same month, there was a large scale recall caused by the absence of an audible seat belt chime. The problem was rectified by updating software in more than 800,000 cars, including Model 3, Model S, Model Y and Model X.
Frosted-up windshields
On the heels of the seat belt chime issue the company also issued a recall for over 26,000 cars were recalled because their windshields would not defrost. The issue was once more solved with a software update.
Failure to warn pedestrians
The Pedestrian Warning System, or PWS, whose job is to make the car more noticeable to nearby pedestrians, caused two recalls this year.
First, the Boombox function, which substitutes a traditional horn, was found to interfere with the PWS. This was remedied in February 2022 with a software update that disabled the Boombox while in Drive, Reverse or Neutral.
But even after that, the issue was still present when the Summon feature was used to maneuver the car, resulting in a second recall in April 2022. More than half a million vehicles were recalled over these Tesla software issues.
Airbags not deploying
A batch of 2021-2022 Tesla Model X vehicles, whose side curtain airbags would fail to deploy in certain cases, was recalled in April 2022. Dealers are set to fix the issue by replacing the affected airbags with updated ones.
Speedometer and infotainment display woes
On two separate occasions in May, Tesla recalled some of its vehicles over safety features that were not working properly.
First, there was an issue with certain 2018–2022 Tesla Model 3 compact sedans, whose speedometers were not showing the unit of speed. These Tesla electrical issues affected approximately 50,000 cars.
A few days later, a range of models was recalled over an issue with their Infotainment systems, which could stop working. If that were to happen, the driver would not have access to the car’s vital functions.
Power windows that may injure occupants
Just recently, in October 2022, Tesla had to recall more than a million of its cars over an issue with power windows. On affected vehicles, which included all popular models, the window would not stop rolling up when it encountered an obstacle. Tesla solved the problem with a software update.
Investigations
Aside from the recalls, The regulator, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the manufacturer over three separate issues which may result in additional recalls.
In January 2022, NHTSA opened an investigation into potentially distracting video game features available on all Tesla models made after 2017.
Just a month later, in February 2022, the regulator started looking into reports of Tesla cars that would reportedly brake by themselves while on autopilot. The cars involved in this investigation included the 2021-2022 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y.
Lastly, there is an ongoing investigation over several alarming cases of cars crashing into stationary emergency vehicles while on autopilot. In June 2022, the NHTSA investigators took this to the next level, trying to find out the root of the problem.
Is your vehicle part of a recall?
Up-to-date, over 3.8 million Tesla vehicles were recalled in 2022 over various Tesla issues. To do a Tesla recall check and see if yours is affected by any of them, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.
