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.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    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.

    Patching the software isn’t a “fix”. Changing out the hood latch so it doesn’t come open while driving is a fix.

    • OutsizedWalrus@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’m guessing this is an issue because of the increased usage of the “frunk”.

      Nearly every ICE can suffer the exact same issue.

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Can? Maybe.

        But it’s far less likely to because you’re not using it anywhere near as much. It’s not reasonably expected use. Opening a storage compartment/froot/frunk is expected.

        A 24 pin port on your PC motherboard that’s rated for 100 insertions would be completely fine.

        A USB-C cable wouldn’t be.