US Asks Tesla To Recall 158,000 Vehicles For Touchscreen Failures

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Wednesday asked Tesla to recall 158,000 Model S and Model X vehicles over media control unit (MCU) failures that could pose safety risks by leading to touchscreen displays not working. The auto safety agency made the unusual request in a formal letter to Tesla after upgrading a safety probe in November, saying it had tentatively concluded the 2012-2018 Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles 'contain a defect related to motor vehicle safety.'

The Tesla vehicles that lose touchscreen use may see driver assistance Autopilot system and turn signal functionality impacted due to potential loss of audible chimes, driver sensing, and alerts associated with these vehicle functions, NHTSA said. It added that loss of alerts tied to systems like Autopilot 'increases the risk of a crash occurring because drivers may be unaware of system malfunctions.' Touchscreen failures result in drivers being unable to use windshield defogging and defrosting systems that 'may decrease the driver's visibility in inclement weather, increasing the risk of crash.' NHTSA noted that 'Tesla has implemented several over-the-air updates in an attempt to mitigate some of the issues... but tentatively believes these updates are procedurally and substantively insufficient.' It noted that under law 'vehicle manufacturers are required to conduct recalls to remedy safety-related defects.' NHTSA said in November it reviewed 12,523 claims and complaints about the issue, which would impact roughly 8% of the vehicles under investigation.

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