cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18110710

The electric car manufacturer Tesla had to issue a massive recall this month to fix faulty hood latches that can open while its cars are driving. The problem affects more than 1.8 million cars, which means it’s slightly smaller than the recall in December that applied to more than 2 million Teslas.

The problem, according to the official National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Part 573 safety recall report, affects model year 2021–2024 Model 3s (built between September 21, 2020, and June 2, 2024), model year 2021–2024 Model Ss (built between January 26, 2021, and July 15, 2024), model year 2021–2024 Model Xs (built between August 18, 2021, and July 15, 2024), and model year 2020–2024 Model Ys (built between January 9, 2020, and July 15, 2024).

The problem first became apparent to Tesla in March of this year after complaints about unintended hood opening from Chinese customers. By April, it had identified the problem as deformation of the hood latch switch, “which could prevent the customer from being notified about an open hood state.”

Although the problem is with the hood latch, as with many Tesla safety recalls, the problem can be fixed with an over-the-air software patch. The new software is able to detect if the hood is open and, if so, will display a warning to the driver to alert them to stop their vehicle and secure the hood.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      4 months ago

      You’d think a driver would be able to tell the hood flew open without needing a warning on the screen.

      • reddig33@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Does it fly open tho? Could’ve sworn there were federal rules that prevent that from happening — there’s a latch, AND a release. The hood should “pop” up about an inch, but then you have to manually unhook it by moving a lever under the hood with your hand. Does the Tesla not do this?

  • The Pantser@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    So the hoods latch is defective and their fix is to just give a pop up and make the driver get out and close it. How long before the latch fails while going 70 and the hood pops open. The camera vision will freak out if you are using the Fully Assisted Cruising. Good luck Tesla owners.

    • FiveMacs@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      I’m more concerned about everyone else on the road then someone who owns the tesla death trap.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Now that they’ve given you a warning, they can say it’s your fault if it flies open when you’re going 70.

    • Exusgu@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      It reads as if the deformation breaks the detection of it being open or closed, which could lead to people driving off without closing it properly. So if it were closed properly it shouldn’t fly open.