Tesla issues another safety recall, impacting 120,000 vehicles with potentially faulty doors

Tesla issued another recall this week, impacting an additional 120,000 vehicles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The automobile manufacturer is recalling 2021 through 2023 Model S and Model X vehicles over potentially faulty doors.

A letter from the NHTSA states that the vehicles’ “cabin doors can be unlocked during a crash,” noting that “an unlocked door may unlatch and open during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.”

Tesla plans to release an over-the-air software update to remedy the issue. Therefore, owners will not need to bring their vehicles in for service. Tesla plans to send out notification letters in February.

The fault was discovered earlier this month “during routine validation side-impact testing” when an engineer noticed a door “unlatch after impact on the non-struck side” of the vehicle, the NHTSA’s report explained.

Tesla’s engineers discovered that the vehicle used in the test “was operating without the lockout functionality,” which was “inadvertently excluded” from several software releases. The company is not aware of any injuries related to the fault.

Two weeks ago, Tesla issued a massive recall estimated to impact nearly all its vehicles in the United States, Blaze News previously reported. Over 2 million Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y produced between 2012 and 2023 were impacted.

The NHTSA conducted an investigation into Tesla, reviewing 956 accidents where the drivers claimed to have the vehicles’ Autopilot feature engaged. The agency concluded that Tesla’s Autosteer “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse.”

To remedy the problem, Tesla plans to issue an over-the-air software update that would “incorporate additional controls and alerts to those already existing on affected vehicles to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged, which includes keeping their hands on the steering wheel and paying attention to the roadway,” the NHTSA stated.

The agency noted that drivers who fail to adhere to the additional safety measures may be suspended from using Tesla’s Autosteer feature.

An NHTSA spokesperson told NBC its investigation into Tesla “remains open as we monitor the efficacy of Tesla’s remedies and continue to work with the automaker to ensure the highest level of safety.”

Tesla contends that accidents are less likely to occur when drivers engage Autopilot.

“In the 4th quarter of 2022, we recorded one crash for every 4.85 million miles driven in which drivers were using Autopilot technology. For drivers who were not using Autopilot technology, we recorded one crash for every 1.40 million miles driven. By comparison, the most recent data available from NHTSA and FHWA (from 2021) shows that in the United States there was an automobile crash approximately every 652,000 miles,” Tesla wrote on X earlier this month.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from NBC.

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