Tesla Recalls Over 100,000 Vehicles

American automotive; Tesla, is recalling about 129,960 vehicles across its US model lineup because their touch screens can overheat and go blank.

The recalls cover certain Model S sedan and Model X SUVs from 2021 and 2022, as well as Model 3 cars and Model Y SUVs from 2022.

Documents posted Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say that during the fast-charging process, the central processing computers may not cool sufficiently. That can cause the computer to lag or restart, making the center screen run slowly or appear blank.

Without the center screen, the cars can lose rearview camera displays, settings that control windshield defrosters, and indicators that say whether the cars are in drive, neutral, or reverse. That can increase the risk of a crash.

Tesla says it is resolving the flaw with an over-the-air software update, which refreshes software wirelessly like a smartphone app update, making the recall less burdensome for Tesla and affected owners. Tesla owners won’t need to take their vehicles to a service station. Updates began on May 3.

Tesla has had a spat of safety problems this year, including multiple investigations opened by NHTSA, the nation’s road safety watchdog. The recall is the 11th for the electric vehicle company since Jan. 27. Most were fixed with software updates.

Early in 2021, the Austin, Texas, company recalled about 135,000 vehicles, also because the touch screens could go dark. Initially, the company had refused to do a recall. The agency said the screens’ computer processors have a finite number of program-and-erase cycles and didn’t last long enough. The company agreed to replace the computer processors.

Tesla said in a public filing to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it had identified 59 warranty claims and reports of the issue from January to May. It initially fixed the issue in some vehicles this January by replacing the computer chip in affected infotainment systems. By April it had developed a software update to address the issue.

Tesla said it id not aware of any crashes, injuries, or deaths related to this condition.