Tesla recalled more than two million electric vehicles nationwide Friday after federal officials deemed the vehicles’ warning lights unsafe for drivers. It is the latest in a string of setbacks for Tesla, which has had to defend the safety of its driver assistance technology and Autopilot mode.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the recall during a routine audit of the vehicles.
The EV warning lights were found to be too small, NHTSA officials said. And while no crashes have been explicitly linked to the problem, officials noted that the light and small font on the vehicle’s display screen could be dangerous.
“Warning lights with a smaller font size can make critical safety information on the instrument panel difficult to read, increasing the risk of a crash,” officials said in a statement.
The recall will apply to nearly every vehicle manufactured by Tesla between 2012 and 2024.
Tesla is facing additional complaints over its driver assistance features and Autopilot autonomous driving software, which critics argue allows for driver misuse and has been linked to fatal crashes.
Tesla ordered a remote software upgrade for most of its U.S. EV fleet in December 2023, which included new safety features for the Autopilot technology, but the effect remains to be seen.
NHTSA officials said in a 2023 report that EVs operating with Autopilot engaged are more likely to violate traffic laws, including “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.”
The agency also has been investigating incidents in which Tesla cars using driver-assist mode have careened off the road and into emergency vehicles.
And more hurdles are on the horizon: NHTSA officials said Friday that the agency will begin conducting an engineering analysis of Tesla’s power steering feature.
The agency launched that investigation last summer in response to complaints from thousands of U.S. drivers who described the functionality of the power steering as feeling “notchy” or “clicky” before incidents.
NHTSA’s engineering analysis will extend to more than 334,000 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles manufactured in 2023, officials said.
Meanwhile, Tesla is staring down legal challenges related to its waste disposal process in California as well.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Earlier this week, a group of 25 Golden State counties filed a lawsuit alleging Tesla may have violated hazardous waste management laws in as many as 101 counties across California, with actions ranging from improperly labeling the toxic waste to sending its hazardous materials to certain landfills in California that cannot accept the materials — as disposal of such substances is overseen at the federal level by the EPA.
Such actions would also violate California law. If the plaintiffs succeed, the EV maker could be hit by as much as $70,000 per violation for each day the hazardous waste was left in the improper area.