Federal safety regulators are looking into Tesla’s Model Y SUV after at least two reports of steering wheels coming loose while the car was being driven by owners.
The model year of 2023 is under consideration by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
According to the report, the cars were delivered to consumers in the two cases when the steering wheel came off the steering column without the retaining bolt.
No mention of accidents or injuries related to the issue was made in the agency’s report.
Some 120,000 automobiles on US roads could be impacted, according to NHTSA. This is an investigation that the organization conducts before issuing a recall order.
Not just Tesla is having safety concerns regarding its steering wheel. Moreover, Nissan has just informed NHTSA that it is recalling around 1,100 Nissan Ariya electric SUVs due to a potential issue with a missing bolt on the steering wheel.
Three cars with excessive steering wheel play were located in dealer inventories; upon closer inspection, it was found that each car was missing the necessary nuts.
However, none of those incidents included the steering wheel coming off while the vehicles were being driven, and there were no complaints of mishaps or injuries brought on by the missing bolts.
Among the traffic rules the cars violated in FSD mode was “traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.”
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, reacted negatively to the term “recall,” arguing that it just involved an over-the-air software update and did not necessitate the owner bringing their vehicles to repair facilities.
But, Tesla did order a recall of 3,470 2022-2023 Model Y vehicles last month owing to incorrectly fastened nuts in the second-row seat back frames, which might prevent the seat belts in those seats from functioning properly in an accident.
For numerous years, Tesla did not have a public relations team, and the press office no longer accepts emails.
