Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 🚘 Tesla is under another NHTSA investigation, this time for potential steering issues in Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from the 2023 model year.
- 🛠️ The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation is looking into twelve complaints of loss of steering control and power steering in the mentioned models.
- 🚦 Five of the complaints reported an inability to steer the car, while the other seven reported the loss of power steering, leading to increased effort in controlling the vehicle.
- 🚗 One reported incident involved a crash where the driver’s Model 3’s steering got stuck, causing them to slide off the road and crash into a tree.
- 🛠️ The NHTSA is examining a total of 280,000 vehicles, and if the issue poses an unreasonable safety risk, it could lead to a recall.
- 🔎 This process was used previously for a NHTSA probe related to Tesla cars crashing into emergency vehicles in 2022.
- 🔎 There was also a separate investigation earlier in the year related to Tesla steering wheel detachments.
Tesla is currently facing another investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this time regarding potential issues with steering control in certain Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) initiated a preliminary investigation on July 28 in response to twelve complaints. These complaints raise concerns about the loss of steering control and power steering in Model 3 and Model Y vehicles manufactured in the model year 2023.
Out of the twelve reports, five cases describe an inability to steer the vehicle, while the remaining seven cases involve the loss of power steering, leading to a heightened effort required to control the vehicle.
In response to the situation, the NHTSA plans to examine a total of 280,000 vehicles that may be affected. Additionally, there has been one reported incident of a crash or fire attributed to this issue. In this particular case, the driver experienced the steering of their Model 3 getting stuck, which caused the vehicle to slide off the road and collide with a tree.
Another driver reported the car suddenly stopped steering when leaving a shopping center. “Went to very close to opposite side of traffic and somehow made it to across the road inside the shopping center,” the driver wrote in a report to the NHTSA.
Other drivers report multiple occurrences of the issue and stated their car is at Tesla Service for repair on a new steering rack and motor.
The initial probe from the NHTSA determines whether the issue poses an unreasonable safety risk. If it does, the NHTSA upgrades the probe to an engineering analysis, which could then result in a recall.
This process was also used for the NHTSA’s probe against Tesla cars crashing into emergency vehicles, which assessed 830,000 cars in 2022. It was upgraded to an Engineering Analysis in June 2022.
There was also another probe related to Tesla steering wheel detachments earlier this year.
