NHTSA Upgrades Safety Probe Into 159,000 Tesla Vehicles

On Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it would be upgrading a probe into almost 159,000 Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles relating to touchscreen/memory issues that could result in a failure to comply with federal standards.

U.S. regulatory mandates stipulate that modern vehicles be required to have rear-camera displays to aid drivers traveling in reverse. The expanded investigation has tripled in size and now encompasses 2012-2018 model year Tesla Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles, which may be eligible for a recall if the NHTSA sees fit.

While we cannot look into the crystal ball and make predictions, the failure rate of certain production runs seems rather high. According to Reuters, regulators noticed “failure rates over 30 percent in certain build months and accelerating failure trends after 3 to 4 years-in-service.” The problem appears related to ongoing issues with Tesla’s multimedia control unit (MCU) using Nvidia Corp. Tegra 3 processors. The automaker is subjecting them to a wild amount of data logging until they effectively burn themselves out — we’ve covered the company’s flash-memory problem at length if you’re interested.

From Reuters:

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

Some complaints said failures could result in loss of charging ability and that other safety alerts could be impacted. One driver said he could not clear fogged windows because he could not change climate controls.

In total, NHTSA said it has reviewed 12,523 claims and complaints about the issue, which would impact roughly 8 percent of the vehicles under investigation.

Tesla said it has received 2,399 complaints and field reports, 7,777 warranty claims, and 4,746 non-warranty claims related to MCU replacements.

Many complaints said Tesla requires owners to pay to replace the unit once warranties expire.

It’s a rather serious problem but the major issue for the NHTSA is that it effectively causes the vehicles to be at odds with the legal vehicle standards that require backup displays on all vehicles. While Tesla’s rearward-facing cameras haven’t gone anywhere, it’s of no use if it cannot be displayed on the center screen. The company has launched numerous over-the-air updates to remedy MCU burnout but it will be up to regulators to see if the changes have done enough to avoid a recall.

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