Tesla recalls nearly half a million of its luxury Model S and Model 3 in the views of crash risks

Tesla has recalled almost half a million Model S and Model 3 cars over damaging and malfunctioning rear view camera issues as a result of opening and shutting of the front trunk.

The issue came to light when the automaker noticed and reported the problem in all Model 3 and S (2017-2020) cars and some of the Model S (20140-2021) cars to the NHTSA – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Dec 21.

Tesla voluntarily recalled its vehicles addressing the potential issue in the trunk latching failure system. For the Model 3 vehicles, the automaker believes that the trunk latching has the potential of damaging the cable harness which is attached to the rearview camera and it could fall immediately.

As for the issues connected with Model S, they are more serious. They potentially prevent the trunk from latching.

According to the submitted documents to NHTSA – the total number of recalled vehicles is 475,318. Which includes 356,309 Model 3 and 119,109 Model S vehicles.

According to the Tesla estimation, only 1 percent of vehicles in fact showed the defects in contrast with the 14% of the Model S vehicles. The Model S issue is more highlighted and serious as it appears on the front trunk of the vehicle obstructing the driver’s view and flies open suddenly which may cause accidents.

The official filed documents to NHTSA says that in the Model S defects “the front trunk latch assembly may be misaligned, preventing the secondary hood latch from engaging,”

While with this, it seems like Tesla is admitting the issue in the Model S is of misalignment rather than a damaged component. With this, Tesla recalled the vehicles believing that repositioning and repairing these vehicles at the service centers will help resolve the issue.

As for Model 3, Tesla has announced to install a fresh guide protector and cable harness without charging the customers any fee.

In the month of August, the NHTSA also opened a formal safety probe to Tesla Inc.’s driver assistance system autopilot after a series of crashes was reported that involved Tesla models and emergency vehicles.