Implementing car recall procedures was an essential step in assuring vehicle safety. It enabled the automaker to quickly resolve a variety of vehicle technical problems that occurred at the plant. As a rule, recently launched automobile models and configurations are suggested as the most vulnerable ones when it comes to breaks and manufacturing or project issues. For instance, you might have noticed that Tesla Inc. has had a number of large-scale vehicle recalls this year. To be precise, in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data, we can find 19 Tesla electric car recall campaigns that involved over 3.7 million automobiles.
We at ClearVin can explain it by saying that innovations always need to go through the time test, which is an inevitable part of development. The year 2022 is coming to an end, and we have decided to systematize the Tesla safety recalls and dedicate the article to this brand only. Let’s clarify the subject.
December Tesla Recall on Cars
Winter has just come, and Tesla announced a new car safety recall in China. According to the available information, problems with the side marker lights are the reason for the next withdrawal campaign that will cover more than 435,000 electric automobiles. Specialists say the breakage may lead to car accidents and crashes.
As the local Chinese regulatory institution stated, a new Tesla car recall concerns the Model 3 and Model Y configurations. A proper software update will be launched to solve the issue.
Also read: Top Electric Car Recalls
November Tesla Vehicle Recalls
Another recent Tesla withdrawal campaign affected over 321,000 electric vehicles in the United States. In general, there were four November Tesla car recalls conducted.
At the end of October 2022, the company received client complaints, mainly from outside the US, concerning rear light illumination that had not worked properly and failed to light periodically. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data, this Tesla car recall involved 2020-2023 Model Y and 2023 Model 3 configurations. The company’s representatives said the Model problems can be solved with the latest software update to correct the rear car illumination. Luckily, there are no accident reports submitted that could be caused by the issue.
Prior to the aforementioned Tesla car withdrawal announcement, Tesla revealed Model X issues that affected approximately 30,000 electric vehicles. The Tesla Model X problems concern the malfunctioning front airbags and their inappropriate deployment. The situation mentioned is definitely dangerous for the passengers. By the way, this Tesla safety recall caused the enterprise share value to go down and lose around 3%. It was a hard strike since the company hadn’t had such indexes for two years.
The November Tesla car recall campaign has influenced Chinese drivers as well. A week or two ago, the company reported the Tesla Model complaints concerning installed software and seatbelts. According to the local regulatory institution, they revealed the battery control system malfunction that affected over 65,000 Tesla Model X and Model S vehicles. The issue might have led to unexpected stops right on the road without fixing it. At the same time, more than 12,000 Model 3 electric automobiles have seatbelt problems.
Earlier, the company recalled 40,186 Model S and Model X vehicles due to a software problem that could disable power steering for cars.
September Tesla Car Recall
One of the most large-scale Tesla car safety recalls covered more than 1 million automobiles. The reason for it was a malfunction of the automatic vehicle window reverse system. It reacted inappropriately to various obstructions, including human body parts, and could harm the driver or passenger.
As the NHTSA stated, some Tesla electric car versions didn’t correspond to the US federal motor vehicle safety standards. The note concerned such configurations as 2017–2022, Model 3, Model Y from 2020–2021, as well as Model Y and Model S manufactured in 2021–2022. As a result, the car manufacturer reported to the controlling institution that the Tesla Model problems needed some software updates. It is also worth saying that Tesla specialists revealed the window reverse system malfunction during manufacturing back in August, so they were able to minimize the Tesla Model complaints.
At the same time, Elon Musk, who owns Tesla Inc., suggested that all such issues should not fall under the car recall category since only a little wireless software change is required. Luckily, he mentioned that no one had reported any accidents or damage caused by the Model problems. Again, the Tesla share price has lost 3.5% because of the mentioned withdrawal campaign announcement.
Also read: 7 Car Recalls of 2022 You Need to Know About
April 2022 Car Recalls
Another large Chinese Tesla service withdrawal affected 127,785 Tesla Model 3 recalled cars. The reason lay in the wrong functioning of semiconductor elements that could cause car accidents and collisions.
If we speak about the US market, Tesla Inc. also conducted a car recall over speed displays. The Tesla Model 3 Performance complaints centered on the dashboard speedometer malfunction: it might have not shown the speed properly while driving in “Track Mode.” This April 2022 car recall covered about 48,000 electric automobiles manufactured from 2018 through 2022.
The reason for the defect was a December-launched update fault that caused the speed unit to disappear from the dashboard. As a result, Tesla vehicles needed a software re-update to solve the Model 3 problems with the user interface.
February Tesla Car Recalls
The next Tesla withdrawal campaign on our list concerned problems with some external sounds that were produced by the vehicle and could be dangerous for pedestrians. The precise reason for the February Tesla recall on cars was the “Boombox” function. It allows playing various sounds and melodies through the external pedestrian warning system (PWS) dynamic.
As NHTSA experts suggested, extraneous sounds that don’t relate to the pedestrian warning system can change the audial warning signs for other road users and disorient walkers. That means the malfunctioned “Boombox” system was potentially dangerous for others.
Recalled cars included the Tesla Model 3 from the 2017–2022 lineups, as well as the Tesla Model S, Model X, and Model Y configurations launched for sale in 2020 and till now. As in most cases, Tesla specialists solved the issue with a new wireless software update that turned the “Boombox” function off.
In February, it also became known that the next Tesla car recall campaign was about to start. The reason for more than 800,000 electric automobiles to be withdrawn all around the United States was an unfastened seat belt controller breakdown. It turned out that if a person was not wearing a seatbelt, the running vehicle did not make a sound signal. As Tesla reported, some software errors have caused the alert system to malfunction. The mentioned recall on cars covered all the 2021–2022 Model S and Model X, 2020–2022 Model Y, as well as 2017–2022 Model 3 electric vehicle configurations.
Another February 2022 Tesla recall on cars concerned the software defect that has touched almost 27,000 electric automobiles all around the United States. These include some 2021–2022 Model 3, Model S, Model X, and Model Y (2020–2022) electric cars.
According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration information, a bug in the car’s software that causes the windshield defroster to work poorly can increase the risk of a crash and reduce the driver’s visibility on the road. Such a defect can increase the possibility of an accident on the road. As a result, Tesla offered Model owners free software updates in response to the electric car recall.
Summing Up
As you may have noticed, this year has brought a lot of challenges for Tesla. The brand managed them, despite ups and downs. As a result, the Tesla car recall 2022 campaign has shown all the strengths and weaknesses that concern the mentioned electric vehicle manufacturer. The following year will undoubtedly bring a new page in the Tesla development book.
If you want to become the lucky owner of a Tesla car and buy a used one, a great idea is to use the Tesla VIN Lookup tool from ClearVIN. It provides you with all the relevant DMV vehicle records, including vehicle withdrawal campaigns, from special and official databases. Revealing car recalls by VIN with us is beneficial and as easy as ABC. Furthermore, you can be confident that all the information we provide to our customers, including car recall details, is relevant and trustworthy. If there are any questions or requests concerning the VIN check or car recall lookup, we invite you to contact us online. Alternatively, you can call at: +1 (844) 268-5991 (8:00 AM – 3:00 PM EST, Monday to Friday).
