Tesla’s Model Y SUV is being investigated for steering wheels that can fall off
DETROIT — U.S. safety regulators are turning up the heat on Tesla, announcing investigations into steering wheels coming off some SUVs and a fatal crash involving a Tesla believed to have had an automated driving system engaged when it ran into a parked firetruck in California.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday that it is launching a crash investigation team to look into the Feb. 18 crash involving a Tesla Model S and a ladder truck from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.
The firetruck inquiry is part of a larger investigation by the agency into multiple instances of Teslas using the automaker’s Autopilot system crashing into parked emergency vehicles that are tending to other crashes. NHTSA has become more aggressive in pursuing safety problems with Teslas in the last year, announcing multiple recalls and investigations.
The driver of the 2014 Tesla Model S was killed in the crash and a passenger was critically injured. Four firefighters were treated for minor injuries, and the $1.4-million ladder truck was damaged.
NHTSA is investigating how the Autopilot system detects and responds to emergency vehicles parked on highways. At least 14 Teslas have crashed into emergency vehicles nationwide while using the system.
Automated driving systems aren’t always involved in the crashes to which NHTSA sends investigators. For instance, the Ohio State Highway Patrol determined that a Tesla that hit one of its patrol cars in November was “not being operated in any type of autonomous mode” at the time of the crash.
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Authorities said the California firetruck had its lights on and was parked diagonally on a highway to protect responders to an earlier accident that did not result in injuries.
A NHTSA spokeswoman said she couldn’t comment on an open investigation when asked whether the Teslas are posing a danger to emergency workers.
Earlier Wednesday, the agency posted documents revealing that it’s investigating steering wheels that can detach from the steering column on as many as 120,000 Model Y SUVs.
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The agency said it received two complaints involving 2023 Model Ys that were delivered to customers missing a bolt that holds the wheel to the steering column. A friction fit held the steering wheels on, but they separated when force was exerted while the SUVs were being driven.
The agency says in documents posted on its website Wednesday that both incidents happened while the SUVs had low mileage on them.
In one complaint filed with NHTSA, an owner said he was driving with his family on Route 1 in Woodbridge, N.J., when the steering wheel suddenly came off Jan. 29, five days after the vehicle was purchased. The owner wrote that there were no cars behind him and he was able to pull toward the road divider. There were no injuries.
It was a “horrible experience,” the car’s owner, Prerak Patel, told the Associated Press. He said he was in the freeway’s left lane when the steering wheel came off and was lucky the road was straight and he was able to stop the car at the divider.
Messages were left seeking comment from Tesla, which is based in Austin, Texas, and has disbanded its media relations department.
At first a Tesla service center gave Patel a cost estimate of $103.96 to repair the problem. The service center apologized in what appear to be text messages posted on Twitter.
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When Patel wrote that he had lost faith in Tesla and asked for a refund, the service center removed the charge.
Patel was later given the option of keeping the car or getting it replaced with a new one. Patel said he chose to get a replacement.
Patel said he’s a fan of Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and has invested a large chunk of his savings in the company’s stock, which fell 3% on Wednesday.
“My kids were a little scared to ride in a loaner Tesla and, as a parent, we are able to restore their confidence,” Patel said. He said he hopes Tesla will investigate and improve its quality control “so no other family experiences what we experienced.”
Detached steering wheels are rare but not unprecedented. In February, Nissan recalled about 1,000 Ariya electric vehicles because the wheels could come off the steering columns due to a loose bolt.
In addition to the Autopilot investigation, NHTSA has opened investigations during the last three years into Teslas braking suddenly for no reason, suspension problems and other issues.
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In February, NHTSA pressured Tesla into recalling nearly 363,000 vehicles with so-called Full Self-Driving software because the system can break traffic laws. The system is being tested on public roads by as many as 400,000 Tesla owners. NHTSA said in documents that the system can cause unsafe actions such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, going through a yellow traffic light without due caution and failing to respond to changes in posted speed limits.
The U.S. Justice Department also has asked Tesla for documents about the Full Self-Driving software and Autopilot.
Tesla says in its owners manual that neither Autopilot nor Full Self-Driving can drive themselves, and that owners must be ready to intervene at all times.
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NHTSA has sent investigators to 35 Tesla crashes in which automated systems are believed to have been engaged. Nineteen people have died in those crashes, including two motorcyclists.
Since January 2022, Tesla has issued 20 recalls, including several that were required by NHTSA. The recalls include one from January of last year for Full Self-Driving vehicles being programmed to run stop signs at slow speeds.
