US asks Tesla to recall almost 160,000 cars over software failures

The auto safety agency made the request in a formal letter to Tesla after upgrading a safety probe in November.

The probe concluded that the 2012-2018 Model S and the 2016-2018 Model X vehicles “contain a defect related to motor vehicle safety” reported Reuters.

Tesla is required to respond to NHTSA by 27 January. If it does not agree to do so, then it must provide the agency “with a full explanation of its decision.”

The agency said it sought the recall after considering “Tesla’s technical briefing presentation [...] and evaluated Tesla’s assertions.”

NHTSA added that “during our review of the data, Tesla provided confirmation that all units will inevitably fail given the memory device’s finite storage capacity.”

The software problem could cause Tesla vehicles to lose touchscreen use which in turn could see driver assistance Autopilot systems and turn signal functionality impacted.

NHTSA noted that “Tesla has implemented several over-the-air updates in an attempt to mitigate some of the issues [...] but tentatively believes these updates are procedurally and substantively insufficient.”

It further noted that under law “vehicle manufacturers are required to conduct recalls to remedy safety-related defects.”