Safety fears spark recall of 475,000 Teslas

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that Tesla is recalling 475,000 vehicles due to the “unavailability” of a rearview camera on the Model 3 and front hood issues on the Model S.

The road safety agency said on Thursday that safety issues had been behind the decision to recall 356,309 2017-2020 Model 3s and 119,009 Model Ss assembled from 2014. 

The Model 3s have an issue with their rearview camera, according to the NHTSA. “Unavailability of the rearview camera display may … increase the risk of a collision,” it said in a statement cited by Reuters.

Tesla said its luxury Model S cars, available from $94,990, were being recalled due to issues with the front hood that could lead to it opening “without warning, obstruct[ing] the driver’s visibility [and] increasing the risk of a crash.”

The number of cars being recalled is similar to the total number of vehicles the company delivered to customers worldwide in 2020. 

The NHTSA said the electric vehicle maker was unaware of any accidents or deaths that had been caused by the aforementioned issues.

Tesla is also under investigation by the NHTSA over software that allows games to be played on the car’s central screen while the vehicle is moving. The issue affects some 580,000 vehicles, although the NHTSA said Tesla had agreed to cancel the feature.

Another investigation – this time into Tesla Inc’s driver assistance system, Autopilot – was opened in August, in response to the 11 crashes since 2018 in which Tesla models using the system hit one or more vehicles involved in an emergency response incident.

Some 135,000 Tesla vehicles were recalled earlier this year after the NHTSA raised concerns about touchscreen displays that were prone to failing, raising the risk of a crash.