A Tesla automotive dealership in Austin, Texas, Could 31, 2023.
Brandon Bell | Getty Photographs
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration has opened a model new investigation into Tesla over steering administration points and lack of vitality steering in 2023 Mannequin 3 sedan and Mannequin Y crossover utility cars.
The federal vehicle safety regulator acknowledged in a uncover posted to the corporate’s web page that it has obtained a dozen complaints from drivers who expert steering problems with their Teslas, along with one who acknowledged it had prompted a crash. The probe, which the NHTSA generally known as a “preliminary analysis,” could affect as a lot as an estimated 280,000 cars throughout the U.S.
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The Mannequin Y grew to develop into the world’s best-selling automotive throughout the first quarter of 2023, surpassing the Toyota Corolla and others. Tesla’s Mannequin 3 is the company’s entry-level vehicle and primarily essentially the most moderately priced electrical automotive it provides.
In 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk knowledgeable consumers that the company was able to rewrite software program program with a goal to vary from one form of chip to a unique, when wished, to take care of semiconductor shortages. A few yr later, Tesla voluntarily recalled a couple of of its Mannequin S and Mannequin X cars over vitality steering points introduced on by a flawed software program program exchange, lastly fixing the problem with one different software program program exchange.
Sometimes, an NHTSA probe will end in an automaker investigating doable manufacturing or design defects and conducting a voluntary recall. The corporate asks drivers to submit complaints by cellphone or on-line and makes use of those complaints with completely different data to seek out out when investigations are wished.
Tesla didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Shares throughout the electrical vehicle maker have been shopping for and promoting down by about 1.7% on Tuesday morning.