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When Tesla Recognizes an Error, It Tries to Dodge Responsibility

It is funny how things connect. I was writing a text about how Tesla deals with safety issues compared to other carmakers when something pretty representative emerged. While defending against a class action, the EV maker admitted the Model S’s door handles had a project issue, but tried to dismiss the case with a ridiculous claim. It said its warranty covers manufacturing issues, not design defects. Unlike what Elon Musk once said, when Tesla recognizes an error, it tries to dodge responsibility.
Tesla Model S door handles have a design flaw, but the company would only do something about that if it were a manufacturing defect 47 photos
Photo: Morten Haagensen/Creative Commons
Tesla Model S door handles have a design flaw, but the company would only do something about that if it were a manufacturing defectTesla Model S door handles have a design flaw, but the company would only do something about that if it were a manufacturing defectNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterNickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded: a failed rear motor inverterDana Brems bought her Tesla Model 3 recently and got stranded in the left lane of a freewayDana Brems bought her Tesla Model 3 recently and got stranded in the left lane of a freewayDana Brems bought her Tesla Model 3 recently and got stranded in the left lane of a freewayDana Brems bought her Tesla Model 3 recently and got stranded in the left lane of a freewayDana Brems bought her Tesla Model 3 recently and got stranded in the left lane of a freewayDana Brems bought her Tesla Model 3 recently and got stranded in the left lane of a freewayDana Brems bought her Tesla Model 3 recently and got stranded in the left lane of a freewayDana Brems now knows what happened to her Tesla Model 3: a broken rear drive unitDana Brems now knows what happened to her Tesla Model 3: a broken rear drive unitThomas George Exton was driving from London to Nottingham when his brand-new Tesla Model Y showed this messageWhen his Model Y shut down, the buttons for opening the doors stopped workingExton knew how to use the manual release in the doors, but the window got stuck in the body and crackedWhen the tow truck arrived, the door accidentally closed: Exton broke a piece of the cracked window to open the carThe entrepreneur cut his hand while removing the glassTesla Road Service arrived two hours later: they were the only ones able to deal with the vehicleExton faced a lot of abuse on Twitter from Tesla advocatesExton faced a lot of abuse on Twitter from Tesla advocatesTesla Model Y failure in the UK was blamed on PCS, but that's only the inverterTesla Model Y lost its steering wheel a while after deliveryTesla Model Y lost its steering wheel a while after deliveryTesla Model Y lost its steering wheel a while after deliveryTesla Model Y lost its steering wheel a while after deliveryTesla Model Y lost its steering wheel a while after deliveryTesla Model Y lost its steering wheel a while after deliveryTesla Model Y lost its steering wheel a while after deliveryTesla Model S Fire in NorwayTesla Model S Fire in ShanghaiTesla Model S Fire in Coral GablesTesla Model S Plaid FireTesla Model S Plaid FireTesla Model S Plaid FireTesla Model S Plaid FireTesla Model S Plaid FireTesla Model S Plaid FireTesla Model S Plaid Fire
The EV maker’s CEO tweeted that “Tesla policy is never to give in to false claims, even if we would lose, and never to fight true claims, even if we would win.” He could argue that the company is not disputing that the door handles in the Model S are defective. It is just pointing out that it does not want to fix that or pay compensation to all those affected by the problem.

Just think about it: does it make any difference if a safety defect that prevents you from opening the door of a car is a design flaw or a manufacturing issue? Tesla’s responsibility is to make sure door handles work properly, especially considering they may get involved in a crash and people may need to be rescued from the EVs. Whatever the cause is, the EV maker needs to correct it.

Tesla Model S door handles have a design flaw, but the company would only do something about that if it were a manufacturing defect
Photo: Morten Haagensen/Creative Commons
This case with the door handles is something we already told you about in more detail – in a great story from Cristian Agatie – but this is just the most representative example of how Tesla currently works. You may remember something that I wrote about how the EV maker’s lawyers in Germany are trying to increase compensations there.

Customers who have regretted their purchases due to defects can return the vehicles and get their money back. However, German laws state that they must pay some cash for having used the cars. The amount is proportional to how much these vehicles were driven compared to how much they are supposed to last.

Although Elon Musk said that “the current battery pack is about maybe 300,000 to 500,000 miles,” the German lawyers insist Tesla vehicles’ lifespan is not higher than 210,000 km (130,488 mi). That’s inferior to the warranty the own company offers for the Model S’ and Model X’s battery packs: 240,000 km (149,129 mi). Can you see the pattern? Just wait: there is more.

Tesla Model Y lost its steering wheel a while after delivery
Photo: prerak/Twitter
Nissan recalled 1,063 units of the Ariya produced to U.S. specifications on March 1. Tesla is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the same issue. Affected vehicles – both from Nissan and from Tesla – apparently went through repairs that demanded removing the steering wheel, but the steering wheel center bolt was not put back. The Japanese carmaker discovered the issue and notified authorities about the actions it would take to correct it. Tesla acts as if the loose steering wheel cases were just anecdotal.

Toyota issued a recall on June 23 to repair about 2,700 units of the bZ4X and 2,600 of the Subaru Solterra (which it also manufactures) worldwide – 661 in the U.S., including both vehicles. The problem was with loose hub bolts. Apparently, the problem was not limited to just screwing them back more tightly: the Japanese carmaker took a long time to understand the problem and solve it for good. As Toyota did not clarify what the issue was, but replaced all bolts, these components would probably not deal well with the EV’s weight, which demanded sturdier pieces.

Tesla Model Y failure in the UK was blamed on PCS, but that's only the inverter
Photo: TGE/YouTube
Tesla seems to have acted in a similarly responsible way with another recall involving loose bolts, but there’s a catch. In the American EV’s case, the issue has to do with four components attaching the seat back frame to the lower seat frame of the Model Y. Tesla blamed Faurecia for the problem right off the bat and said 3,470 cars were affected. It also described the matter as if Tesla had discovered it.

Throwing your suppliers under the bus like this is a way of dodging responsibility. Other companies only do that when the mistake is too extreme, such as the one with LG Energy Solution that led to fires with the Hyundai Kona EV and the Chevrolet Bolt EV. Even in those two cases, Hyundai and GM were pretty careful with how they eventually blamed the Korean supplier for the problem.

Tesla Model S Fire in Coral Gables
Photo: Coral Gables Fire Department
Just check what Ford did with SK On in the battery pack recall it issued on March 10. One battery pack caught fire in a holding lot in early February, leading the company to investigate the problem with its supplier and determine that a manufacturing defect with the cells was to blame. As a result, Ford recalled 18 units of the F-150 Lightning. Instead of blaming the supplier, the automaker said they found a solution together.

Curiously, there are several reports of Tesla battery packs catching fire. Ton Aarts has counted 460 blazes until March 3, 2023. The Tesla-Fire website brings a smaller number: 182, with 53 casualties. Unlike Chevrolet, Hyundai, and Ford, Tesla never recalled this component or replaced it due to safety concerns. It states it produces its cells in a partnership with Panasonic in Nevada, which prevents it from blaming its Japanese supplier. To this date, Tesla has not given any explanation for these fires. Consumers affected by a voltage cap even accused Tesla of doing that to hide fire risks. Musk talked about never fighting true claims when Tesla settled the lawsuit these guys filed against it.

Tesla Model S Fire in Shanghai
Photo: via PTT
It almost looks as though the EV maker hates recalls, especially those it cannot blame anyone else for provoking. Musk even came to the extreme of trying to refute them by sticking with the etymology of the word recall. If an over-the-air (OTA) update allegedly solved the issue, it would be wrong to call the repair a recall. For a company that claims to praise safety so much, that’s quite a mistake: anything that can put people in danger must be solved by a recall, regardless of what the word was supposed to mean in the past.

This repulse for such actions is quite evident with the rear motor inverter failures in the Model 3 and Model Y. Although Tesla did a recall to solve that in China, this correction never reached the U.S. American vehicles exported to the Asian giant were included in the Chinese recall, so it is not possible to say EVs made in the U.S. are not affected.

Dana Brems bought her Tesla Model 3 recently and got stranded in the left lane of a freeway
Photo: Dana Brems
NHTSA was informed about the recalls at the time, but did not order Tesla to address the problem in the U.S. I asked the safety regulator about what the EV maker disclosed, but it only told me it was aware of the recall in China. My sources there said that NHTSA keeps an eye on Early Warning Reporting (EWR) data, which helps to identify potential safety defects. If you are not familiar with what EWR is, that made two of us until I wrote this article.

If I understood them correctly, they are mandatory reports carmakers have to file regarding death and injury records, light vehicle production, and property damage records. There is nothing there about prevalent defects or how they happened. In other words, if nobody dies, gets hurt, or destroys something, the fault can happen several times. There is no risk assessment related to EWR.

Nickolas Catherine had barely driven his Tesla Model 3 when a familiar issue left him stranded\: a failed rear motor inverter
Photo: Nickolas Catherine
The safety regulator’s only sources of info about any defects leading to dangerous situations are probably the media and also the vehicle safety complaints customers can file at the NHTSA’s website. That makes me wonder how many of the people affected by a rear motor inverter failure have filed such a complaint. Speaking to some of them, they told me they felt “it's almost like they are trying to keep the problem a secret” because nobody in Tesla Service Centers mentions what happened to the cars. They only say the vehicle is being repaired and deliver it without saying what went wrong with the EVs. Some owners have to insist on discovering it was an inverter problem.

Reporting the defect is not helping. My sources said the safety regulator should intervene if it detects unreasonable safety risks. However, after writing about so many cases of inverter failures on highways, I wonder if NHTSA reputes them as reasonable. If you have experienced the problem and do not want that to happen to anyone else, you should file a complaint with the safety regulator to say this is not acceptable. After all, Tesla is mostly quiet about these defects. When it admits there is something wrong, it only does so if it can blame someone else for the situation or dismiss it with preposterous allegations.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
Gustavo Henrique Ruffo profile photo

Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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