Tesla Recalls 240,000 Vehicles Due to Computer Failure

Tesla has issued a recall of nearly 240,000 cars in the United States as a result of potential problems with their on-board computers.

According to a letter from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to the automaker: “The computer circuit board may short, resulting in the loss of the rear view camera image.”

Of course, should a vehicle’s computer fail, the rear view camera may not be the only element affected. There have been reports surfacing online for a number of months from owners who have experienced computer failure and subsequent issues with windshield wipers, auto lighting and even navigation features.

The recall covers certain 2024-2025 Model 3 and Model S cars, and also certain 2023-2025 Model X and Model Y vehicles. In total, 239,382 cars are affected.

The NHTSA continued: “As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, ‘Rear Visibility.’”

On most vehicles, the recall will constitute a simple over-the-air (OTA) software update that should be sufficient to prevent any problems and on Dec. 18, Tesla started applying the remedy to customers’ cars.

The OTA “changes the vehicle power up sequence to prevent the shorting failure condition to the primary and/or secondary power component.”

Related:Tesla Recalls 2 Million Vehicles for Autopilot Safety Issue

Vehicles that are still in production had the measure applied from Dec. 18 onward. Some Model 3, Model S and Model X cars received a different computer variant.

For those owners whose vehicle had already suffered the circuit board shorting, Tesla will replace the computer at no cost.

While the loss of the camera image obviously presents a degree of danger, as of Dec. 30, Tesla informed the NHTSA it was “not aware of any collisions, injuries or fatalities related to the condition.” However, by the same date it had identified 887 warranty claims and 68 field reports related to the condition. 

Tesla is no stranger to the NHTSA recall process, having been involved in some high-profile cases over the past couple of years. In 2024 alone, it had 5.1 million vehicles affected – the most of any automaker. 

In June, more than 1.8 million cars required an update to correct a glitch that could cause hoods of various models to pop open. A couple of months earlier, 125,000 vehicles were served a recall notice because of a seat belt warning system malfunction.

And in December 2023, a mammoth 2 million Teslas were hit by a recall to address concerns over the Autosteer feature of the company’s Autopilot driver-assistance tech.

Related:Teslas Recalled to Stop Hood Opening; 1.8M affected

As is the norm, Tesla has not commented publicly on the latest recall.