Two senators have written to Elon Musk, Tesla’s top executive, calling on him to “swiftly” recall any steering and suspension parts that pose a security risk.
The letter cites “an alarming” Reuters investigation published on Dec. 20 that exposed how Tesla has blamed drivers for frequent failures of components it has long known were defective.
“We write with extreme concern following recent reporting about Tesla’s knowledge of safety flaws in its vehicles and concealment of the causes of those flaws from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” states the letter, which is signed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, and Edward J. Markey, of Massachusetts.
The senators call on Musk to correct “apparent false and misleading representations” made to the protection agency.
The Reuters report found that Tesla told NHTSA and customers that the frequent failures of defective parts in its electric vehicles were attributable to driver “abuse,” corresponding to hitting a curb. In 2020, Tesla gave that explanation in a letter to the protection agency explaining why it might not recall a suspension part called the aft link in america, despite having just recalled it in China.
Tesla documents reviewed by Reuters show the automaker’s engineers for years tracked frequent failures of aft links and other suspension, steering and axle parts, often on relatively latest cars.
The corporate instructed its service managers to inform customers that the parts weren’t faulty because it struggled to contain soaring warranty costs, the records reviewed by Reuters show.
“We’re disturbed that you just would blame your customers for these failures,” stated the letter from Blumenthal and Markey, each Democrats. “It’s unacceptable that Tesla wouldn’t only try to shift the responsibility for the substandard quality of its vehicles to the people purchasing them, but additionally make that very same flawed argument to NHTSA.”
Musk and Tesla didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment on the senators’ letter. Neither answered detailed questions from Reuters for the Dec. 20 investigation.
Sweden’s Transport Agency said on Friday that it’s investigating suspension failures in Tesla cars.
The inquiry is comparable to 1 being carried out in neighboring Norway, where the Norwegian Public Roads Administration said last week it was looking into consumer complaints about lower rear control arms breaking on its Model S and X vehicles.
Markey and Blumenthal have previously raised concerns about Tesla’s marketing practices and the protection of its automated driving technology.
In April, the senators wrote to Musk questioning him about one other Reuters investigation, which reported that groups of Tesla employees had circulated, via an internal messaging system, private and sometimes highly invasive recordings from customers’ automobile cameras.
Two senators have written to Elon Musk, Tesla’s top executive, calling on him to “swiftly” recall any steering and suspension parts that pose a security risk.
The letter cites “an alarming” Reuters investigation published on Dec. 20 that exposed how Tesla has blamed drivers for frequent failures of components it has long known were defective.
“We write with extreme concern following recent reporting about Tesla’s knowledge of safety flaws in its vehicles and concealment of the causes of those flaws from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” states the letter, which is signed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, and Edward J. Markey, of Massachusetts.
The senators call on Musk to correct “apparent false and misleading representations” made to the protection agency.
The Reuters report found that Tesla told NHTSA and customers that the frequent failures of defective parts in its electric vehicles were attributable to driver “abuse,” corresponding to hitting a curb. In 2020, Tesla gave that explanation in a letter to the protection agency explaining why it might not recall a suspension part called the aft link in america, despite having just recalled it in China.
Tesla documents reviewed by Reuters show the automaker’s engineers for years tracked frequent failures of aft links and other suspension, steering and axle parts, often on relatively latest cars.
The corporate instructed its service managers to inform customers that the parts weren’t faulty because it struggled to contain soaring warranty costs, the records reviewed by Reuters show.
“We’re disturbed that you just would blame your customers for these failures,” stated the letter from Blumenthal and Markey, each Democrats. “It’s unacceptable that Tesla wouldn’t only try to shift the responsibility for the substandard quality of its vehicles to the people purchasing them, but additionally make that very same flawed argument to NHTSA.”
Musk and Tesla didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment on the senators’ letter. Neither answered detailed questions from Reuters for the Dec. 20 investigation.
Sweden’s Transport Agency said on Friday that it’s investigating suspension failures in Tesla cars.
The inquiry is comparable to 1 being carried out in neighboring Norway, where the Norwegian Public Roads Administration said last week it was looking into consumer complaints about lower rear control arms breaking on its Model S and X vehicles.
Markey and Blumenthal have previously raised concerns about Tesla’s marketing practices and the protection of its automated driving technology.
In April, the senators wrote to Musk questioning him about one other Reuters investigation, which reported that groups of Tesla employees had circulated, via an internal messaging system, private and sometimes highly invasive recordings from customers’ automobile cameras.
