Two US senators have penned a letter to Elon Musk, urging him to recall potentially dangerous steering and suspension parts in Tesla vehicles. The call for action comes after a recent Reuters investigation exposed how Tesla has been blaming drivers for failures of known defective components. The senators, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, expressed their concern over Tesla’s alleged concealment of safety flaws from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They called on Musk to rectify what they describe as apparent false and misleading representations made to the agency.
According to the Reuters report, Tesla had informed both the NHTSA and customers that driver abuse was the cause of frequent failures in its electric vehicles. The company’s engineers had, in fact, been tracking these failures for years, particularly in parts like aft links, suspension, steering, and axle components. Tesla allegedly instructed its service managers to deny any faults with these parts as it struggled to manage its rising warranty costs.
In their letter, the senators expressed their dismay at Tesla’s practice of blaming customers for these failures. They criticized the company’s attempt to shift responsibility onto the purchasers of its vehicles and accused Tesla of making the same flawed argument to the NHTSA.
As of now, there has been no immediate response from Musk or Tesla regarding the senators’ letter. However, after the article revealing the investigation was published, Tesla posted a response on Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). The automaker disputed the Reuters headline, which accused Tesla of blaming drivers for failures in defective parts that they were already aware of. Tesla claimed the headline to be wildly misleading and defended its record of customer retention and safety transparency.
Further investigations into suspension failures in Tesla cars are currently underway in Sweden and neighboring Norway. Both countries’ transport agencies are looking into consumer complaints about suspension-related issues in Model S, Model X, and Model Y vehicles.
The senators have previously expressed concerns about Tesla’s marketing practices and the safety of its automated driving technology. In April, they wrote to Musk regarding another Reuters investigation that revealed Tesla employees had circulated private and invasive recordings from customers’ car cameras.
Overall, the senators’ call for Tesla to recall potentially dangerous parts highlights a growing concern about the company’s safety practices. As investigations continue and pressure mounts, Tesla’s reputation could face further scrutiny in the days to come.
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