Electric vehicle maker Tesla on Tuesday announced it is recalling 1.85 million vehicles in the United States due to an issue with its hood detection system.
The recall covers a problem with the software where it fails to detect an unlatched hood before driving. This hood could come loose due to wind and become fully open, obstructing the driver's view and increasing the risk of a crash or other incidents.
The recall will affect model year 2021-2024 Model 3s (built between Sept. 21, 2020, and June 2, 2024); model year 2021- 2024 Model Ss (built between Jan. 26, 2021, and July 15, 2024); model year 2021-2024 Model Xs (built between Aug. 18, 2021, and July 15, 2024); and model year 2020-2024 Model Ys (built between Jan. 9, 2020, and July 15, 2024), per the official National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Part 573 safety recall report.
The hood detection issue first became apparent to Tesla in March this year after receiving complaints about unintended hood openings from its customers in China. The company later launched an engineering study and found similar incidents in North America and Europe, although Tesla said there was a lower rate of occurrence in both locations than in China.
In a notification to the NHTSA, Tesla said it identified three warranty claims or field reports related to unintended hood openings affecting its vehicles in the US, but noted that it isn't aware of any crashes or injuries caused by the issue.
Tesla Software Updates
In addition to the recalls, Tesla also released a software update in June. The update, which was rolled out "over-the-air" now made it possible for the software to properly detect an open hood and alert drivers accordingly.
The recall is Tesla's biggest since December. At the time, it recalled 2.03 million vehicles in the US, or almost all of its cars on US roads to install new safeguard features in its Autopilot system.
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