On the 24th of July 2024, Tesla filed a document with the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saying that they are recalling 1.85 million vehicles.
According to Tesla, they started an investigation into complaints of customers in March of 2024 after getting reports of “unintended hood opening events” in the Models 3 and Y in China. Incidents like these raise the risk of a crash if the hood comes open and obstructs the driver’s view, says the NHTSA.
By April of 2024, Tesla had identified a latch switch deformation as the cause of the problem.
The models affected are:
- The 2013-2024 Tesla Model S
- 2016-2024 Tesla Model X
- 2017-2024 Tesla Model 3
- 2020-2024 Tesla Model Y
Most of the occurrences have been reported in China, while Europe and North America have seen lower rates. Tesla states that they had identified 3 warranty claims relating to this problem in the US but no accidents or deaths have been recorded.
In the document filed by Tesla, the recall will be an over-the-air software remedy at no cost to the owners with a release of firmware 2024.20.3. Future releases which will now detect an open hood in cars that currently have this problem.
Dealers with cars that are impacted have been notified on the 26th of July, while owners will be notified on the 22nd of september.
This recall is Tesla’s fourth since 2022 affecting over a million cars, and their ninth recall this year alone.
