Two U.S. senators name for Tesla remembers after Reuters investigation

Two U.S. senators have written to Elon Musk, Tesla‘s prime govt, calling on him to “swiftly” recall any steering and suspension elements that pose a security threat.

The letter cites “an alarming” Reuters investigation revealed on December 20 that uncovered how Tesla has blamed drivers for frequent failures of parts it has lengthy recognized have been faulty.

“We write with extreme concern following recent reporting about Tesla’s knowledge of safety flaws in its vehicles and concealment of the causes of these flaws from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” states the letter, which is signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, and Edward J. Markey, of Massachusetts.

The senators name on Musk to right “apparent false and misleading representations” made to the security company.

The Reuters report discovered that Tesla instructed NHTSA and clients that the frequent failures of faulty elements in its electrical autos have been attributable to driver “abuse,” comparable to hitting a curb. In 2020, Tesla gave that rationalization in a letter to the security company explaining why it could not recall a suspension half referred to as the aft hyperlink in the USA, regardless of having simply recalled it in China.

Tesla paperwork reviewed by Reuters present the automaker’s engineers for years tracked frequent failures of aft hyperlinks and different suspension, steering and axle elements, usually on comparatively new automobiles. The corporate instructed its service managers to inform clients that the elements weren’t defective because it struggled to comprise hovering guarantee prices, the data reviewed by Reuters present.

“We are disturbed that you would blame your customers for these failures,” said the letter from Blumenthal and Markey, each Democrats. “It is unacceptable that Tesla would not only attempt to shift the responsibility for the substandard quality of its vehicles to the people purchasing them, but also make that same flawed argument to NHTSA.”

Musk and Tesla didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon the senators’ letter. Neither answered detailed questions from Reuters for the Dec. 20 investigation.

Sweden’s Transport Company mentioned on Friday that it is investigating suspension failures in Tesla automobiles. The inquiry is much like one being carried out in neighboring Norway, the place the Norwegian Public Roads Administration mentioned final week it was wanting into consumer complaints about decrease rear management arms breaking on its Mannequin S and X autos.

Markey and Blumenthal have beforehand raised issues about Tesla’s advertising practices and the security of its automated driving know-how.

In April, the senators wrote to Musk questioning him about one other Reuters investigation, which reported that teams of Tesla workers had circulated, by way of an inside messaging system, personal and generally extremely invasive recordings from clients’ automobile cameras.