Tesla Model 3 and Model Y EVs from 2023 are experiencing a spate of power steering failures that are being looked into by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Numerous vehicles have to be towed due to thousands of owners reporting the lack of steering support, and at least one crash has been linked to the malfunction.
Some drivers said that they were unable to spin the steering wheel at all since the effort required to steer had increased. Numerous owners who have had this issue have found that even after restarting the car, the regulators that were causing the power steering to return continued to cause problems until the rack was substituted entirely.
Several drivers recounted frightening accounts of abrupt power steering failures that happened at speeds that almost resulted in collisions. According to the Tesla documents, the carmaker attempted to place the responsibility for regular failures of steering and suspension components that it had long known were flawed on the drivers.
An inquiry for comment regarding the NHTSA’s updated probe was not immediately answered by Tesla.
According to the NHTSA, 2,388 complaints regarding power steering problems with Tesla’s two midsize models have been found during the course of its inquiry. Cars have frequently blocked intersections by becoming stopped in the middle of turns and unable to complete the turn due to steering difficulties. Over fifty reports of cars being flat-bed away as a result of this purported problem have been filed with the Office of Defects Investigation.
There doesn’t seem to be a relationship between the car’s speed at the time of failure and failure, with about one-third occurring below five mph, half occurring between five and 35 mph, and the remaining portion occurring over 35 mph. Reports of power steering failures at high speeds have been made.
The precise parts that would require replacement or recall to stop the steering outages were still unknown. Tesla has used remote software fixes to address a few more concerns. If the NHTSA demands that the manufacturer replace or repair physical parts, the automaker may be subject to a considerably more expensive recall.
Since 2018, there have been nine Tesla recalls in the US due to problems with the suspension and steering, according to NHTSA data. Most had an impact on a comparatively limited number of cars. The most significant occurred in 2018, when over 70,000 Model S cars had their steering-rack bolts replaced due to a possibility that corrosion may result in a loss of power steering.
This preliminary investigation has been expanded into a comprehensive engineering analysis project that will impact up to 334,000 vehicles during the 3 and Y model year of manufacturing. The circumstances leading up to the failure and the nature of the failure mode will be examined in this analysis. The agency might pressure Tesla to start a recall campaign if it finds that the malfunction is endangering drivers.’
Tesla’s autonomous driving assist, which aims to let vehicles steer, accelerate, and halt automatically inside their lanes, has come under fire. The Cybertruck has begun receiving software updates to address the issue for units that are currently in production.
