Tesla recalls more than 2 million EVs in US

Tesla, the pioneer electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, has recalled 120,000 Model S and Model X cars on US roads after it was shown that doors were unlocking during test crash, and that on the non-impact side. The vehicles did not have the lockout option though it was sent through over-the-air software update. The company said there were no warranties and that so far there have been no incidents.

The company informed about the recall of the vehicles to the US’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Friday. Earlier, the company had recalled 2.03 million cars in the US last week due to a defect in the product after concerns were raised by NHTSA. The company wants to add safety measures to the Autopilot system. NHTSA said that it will test the safety measures that are added to the recalled cars.

The Autopilot system is controversial with critics arguing about its unreliability, and Tesla, especially its CEO Elon Musk, defending that the computerised software fitted into the car assesses the presence of vehicles around and it also helps to keep the vehicle in safety lanes. It seems that through these recalls, Tesla has withdrawn almost all of the EVs which it has sold in the US since 2015. The company is confident of fixing the problems.

It is now felt that EV is the only option in a world which is facing the climate crisis. The need to check and test constantly the safety of the car can been as necessary precautionary measures. This could be part of the learning curve of a safe EV which has no flaws embedded in the car.

The testing both at the Tesla and at the NHTSA shows that there is need for monitoring the safety systems of the EVs. But this does not close the option of an EV. It only means that there is need for closer quality scrutiny of the vehicle. And this information could be shared with all other automakers who are in the process of shifting to the EV mode.

It was Musk’s vision of the future that he ventured to go into the commercial production of the EVs when most people were toying with the idea and weighing the risks of the enterprise. Tesla has now forced all the other traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) car-makers to shift to EVs, even if they were quite reluctant to do so.

The hesitation was perhaps natural because there was no guarantee that the EV would be successful. Then there were the ancillary systems to put the EVs on roads, which require the manufacture of batteries, the charging stations. There are many unresolved issues on the way, but they cannot be anticipated unless the system is up and running.

Regarding the entry of the EVs – it is reckoned that of the 14 billion cars in the world, 26 million are EVs, and a majority of the EVs are in China. Car-owners in the world are then taking to the EVs, and Tesla has become one of the players. But what it does to keep the EVs safe is necessary to be disseminated in the whole passenger car ecosystem across the world.

After the agreement reached at the Dubai COP28 climate summit earlier this month that there would be a move away from fossil fuels, the urgency to switch to the EVs has increased. And it becomes necessary for the EV manufacturers to look for the material and system stresses that the EV is prone to, and to introduce the safety measures. This is not the first time that a carmaker has withdrawn vehicles on a large scale. The Japanese carmaker, Toyota, had done it many years ago after a technical fault had been detected. The recall of the EVs by Tesla need not raise any alarm, or raise doubts about the EV as such