Tesla recalls 135,000 vehicles over touch screen errors [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Tesla Inc. will be recalling 135,000 vehicles over reports that the touch screen features on S luxury sedans and X sport-utility models were malfunctioning.
• Touch screen’s commands like defrosting, turn-signal and driver assistance don’t work when memory storage is already full.
• The electric-vehicle maker would also replace the hardware, but it would be a staggered installation.

After issues of touch-screen failures arose, Tesla Inc. is recalling around 135,000 model vehicles of S luxury sedans and X sport-utility.

The request for return came following National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) plea last month, noting that the vehicles’ touch screens do not work when a memory chip’s storage is already fully-loaded. Commands such as defrosting, turn-signal, and driver assistance are malfunctioning.

The NHTSA said that the issue impacted around 158,000 vehicles, which include Model S sedans that were built from 2012 to early 2018, and Model X vehicles that were sold between 2016 and early 2018. The agency said that the retraction does not include vehicles whose memory chip or touch screen had already been upgraded.

In a letter released to federal regulators on Tuesday, the company said that while they do not concur that the issue has manifested a glitch on the vehicle’s touch screen, it would still proceed with the recall to address the issue and give its customers a better experience.

“It is economically, if not technologically, infeasible to expect that such components can or should be designed to last the vehicle’s entire useful life,” Tesla wrote in the letter.

The move would comprise enormous figures of Teslas, though the recall would be lower versus other car-safety measures by other automakers, which sometimes involved millions of cars.

An analyst at Guidehouse Insights, Sam Abuelsamid estimated that the recall would cost around $200 to $250 million. The recall is one of Tesla’s biggest safety retractions

According to federal regulators, Tesla’s touch screens error could take around five to six years before it would reveal. The company has attempted to fix the issue through over-the-air updates but did not ultimately work, per regulators.

The recall also came amid a scarcity of computer-chip in the auto industry because of distorted global production.

The company said that as part of the recall, it would also replace the hardware for free, but it would be in phases and not one time due to the unavailability of other parts.

As of last summer, about 12,600 reported vehicles have experienced malfunctioning of touch screens. And eventually, all 158,000 vehicles would manifest the problem over time.

In 2018, the electric-vehicle maker recalled about 123,000 Model S cars after a discovery that some bolts deteriorated in freezing weather, which can result in power-steering mishaps.

Source: The Wall Street Journal