It seems like Tesla has yet again fallen into trouble with the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the agency has initiated a formal investigation.
The reports came in on Friday, that is 27th November and the investigation revolves around One million one hundred and fifty (115,000) Tesla cars over a safety issue in the front suspension technology.
According to sources, the U.S. NHTSA mentions that the agency has received over 40 complaints by Tesla automobile owners, more specifically, the Tesla Model S (2015 to 2017) and Model X (2016 to 2017) variants in the past many months, alleging failure of front suspension control links.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the inner mechanics of a four-wheeler automotive, a suspension link, also known as control link or just ‘link’ is a key component that attaches at two or more key points. Considering a minimum two-point suspension link, one point attaches to the frame of the car and the other attaches to; either the axel, upright, knuckle or another link in case of a 4 or 5 link suspension.
NHTSA reports suggest that in the month of February in 2017, billionaire Elon Musks’ Tesla issued a service bulletin which acknowledged that due to a technical manufacturing condition, some Tesla owners may experience failure of control link in the front suspension.
To quote exactly what the 2017 bulletin mention, “front fore links that may not meet Tesla strength specifications. In the event of link failure, the driver can still maintain control of the vehicle but the tire may contact the wheel arch liner,” according to Reuters.
Furthermore, NHTSA issued a report mentioning the exact number of complaints regarding the issue in the past three to four months, where some accidents occurred during driving at highway speeds, some happened during parking maneuvers.
After a class-action lawsuit filed against the EV automobile company in the California District Court and China’s requirement for a strong suspension because of local driving conditions, Tesla agreed to recall over 30, 000 Tesla Model S and Model X cars in China, on the request of the Chinese regulators.
However, the company is still claiming to be confident about their suspension and denies all allegations made by the NHTSA, calling the condition to be “exceedingly rare” as a technical issue in one out of million cars. The company also says that it is unaware of any crashes, issues, accidents or deaths reported in the world because of the alleged issue.
