Teslas Recalled to Stop Hood Opening; 1.8M affected

Tesla is to recall more than 1.8 million vehicles in the United States to rectify a glitch that could cause hoods of various models to pop open.

The recall will take the form of an over-the-air software update and will not require cars to be taken to Tesla dealerships.

According to a document filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla has been looking into the issue since March, when it began “investigating customer complaints of unintended hood opening events on Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in China.”

These investigations revealed a condition described as latch switch deformation, which could prevent the driver from being notified of an open hood when the car is placed into drive mode.

Having established there was an issue in China, Tesla launched engineering studies in North America and Europe to find out if the problem was replicated there. After what it described as an abundance of caution, it voluntarily decided to recall potentially affected vehicles.

As Tesla identified: “Unknowingly driving a vehicle with an unlatched hood may result in the hood fully opening and obstructing the driver’s view, increasing the risk of a collision.”

The 1,850,363 vehicles covered by the recall are certain Model Year (MY) 2017-2024 Model 3s manufactured between 6 September 2017 and 15 July 2024, equipped with a hood latch produced in China, plus all delivered MY 2013-2024 Model S, MY 2016-2024 Model X and MY 2020-2024 Model Y cars.

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However, Tesla says merely one per cent of these are likely to suffer from the defect, and it is not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths that have been caused by the issue.

A firmware update aims to ensure an open hood is detected and owners receive an alert to warn them that it is not shut properly.

The update is the latest in a series of significant recalls Tesla has put in place over the past 12 months.

In December 2023, more than 2 million cars were recalled in the U.S. amid concerns that the company’s Autopilot driver-assistance tech did not do enough to prevent driver misuse. A further 1.6 million were recalled in China in January to address the same issue.

In the U.S., 2 million Teslas had to be updated in February because of a problem with the brake system warning light, and in March, 200,000 vehicles were affected because of concerns about the rear view camera sensing system.

A potential seatbelt warning system multifunction caused another 125,000 vehicles to be recalled in May.

Separately, Tesla’s new Cybertruck was hit with four recalls in five months after an array of different problems.

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