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Tesla Told European Authorities About Model 3 and Model S Recalls on January 4

Being a relatively small company means that all issues you have in one of your only two factories will affect most of your products. It gets worse if they relate to design. That’s what we have seen with the Model 3 and Model S recalls from Tesla. After involving 675,059 cars in the U.S. and China, Tesla warned European authorities about it on January 4.
How many Tesla Model 3 and Model S are involved in the recall in Europe? 12 photos
Photo: Tesla
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The number of affected vehicles in Europe is yet to be revealed. Thanks to our sources, we’ll be able to follow how fast the European Union manages to share information that it receives from automakers regarding safety issues its vehicles present.

If you are not familiar with these recalls, the one that hit the Model 3 was due to a design error. The EV uses a solid-core coaxial cable to transmit the rear camera images to the ICE computer in the center console.

Simply opening and closing the trunk damages this cable by folding the harness in a “tight bend radius, stressing the core of the cable” and eventually making it break. To fix that, Tesla developed a guide protector in the trunk harness.

The problem covers all units made in Fremont from July 15, 2017 – the very start of this car's production – until September 30, 2020. That includes 356,309 vehicles. In China, the affected cars were produced from October 14, 2019, until December 27, 2020, at Giga Shanghai. That means that 144,208 units in the Chinese market may present the issue, but a large number of vehicles both from Fremont and Giga Shanghai were exported.

Concerning the Model S, Tesla produced all units in Fremont. So far, that means 119,009 vehicles sold in the U.S. and 19,697 sold in China may have their frunks opening while the car is in motion. In this case, the problem affects Model S units from 2014 until 2021 and consists of a misalignment that may prevent the secondary latch from latching. Considering that the correction only involves reassembling and repositioning the latch mechanism, it seems an assembly issue.

As soon as we have the information about the number of affected vehicles in Europe, we’ll write another article to update the universe. The final one will still need data from Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, New Zealand, Taiwan, Canada, and Mexico. However, having almost 30% of the cars it ever produced involved in recalls reinforces that Tesla needs to improve testing and quality control at its factories.
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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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