Tesla Investigated Over Touchscreen Failure Complaints

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Tuesday it has launched an investigation into Tesla’s Model S. Frequent complaints have arisen of the vehicle’s media control unit going on the fritz and knocking out the vehicle’s touchscreen.

We’ve seen several outlets minimize the issue by suggesting gaps in Tesla’s Autopilot should be seen as more pressing. Apparently, many see potentially faulty touchscreens as small potatoes. But we can’t agree; not when they happen to operate the brunt of the car’s auxiliary functions, and we’ve heard reports of this very problem for years. If you need a refresher course, we covered the matter extensively in the fall of 2019. The gist is that the embedded Multi-Media Controller (eMMC) on MCUv1 units seem to be overworked. Constantly logging data is tough on the system, and this setup didn’t appear to be capable of handling the high load, resulting in flash-memory wear.

This leads to all sorts of problems. At first, owners may only notice the system being less responsive — like a worked-to-death computer. The entire display will eventually brick itself, however, resulting in a blank screen you cannot interface with and the complete loss of some of the car’s most important features. That includes one’s ability to recharge the vehicle, in some instances.

According to Reuters, the NHTSA says the preliminary evaluation covers around 63,000 units from the 2012-2015 model years and comes after the agency received 11 complaints claiming premature failure of the media control unit due to memory wear-out.

From Reuters:

Tesla used the same unit in 159,000 2012-2018 Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles built by Tesla through early 2018.

The memory control unit uses an Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) Tegra 3 processor with an integrated 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device, NHTSA said. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The flash devices have a finite lifespan based on the number of program or erase cycles, NHTSA said.

Failures resulting from memory wear-out “are likely to occur after periods of progressively degraded performance (e.g., longer power-up times, more frequent touchscreen resets, intermittent loss of cellular connectivity, loss of navigation),” the agency said.

Safety concerns revolve around cars losing their display for rear-facing cameras (now required by law) and consumers complaining it’s impossible to defog windshields with the center console inoperable. Fortunately, the NHTSA said the failure does not affect vehicle-control systems. However, we doubt anyone would spend more time driving around in a busted Model S with these kinds of issues more than absolutely necessary.

[Image: JL IMAGES/Shutterstock]