Tesla issues largest voluntary recall with the Model S for power steering issues

Tesla is taking a proactive stance and recalling 123,000 Model S vehicles built before April 2016 over a power steering issue. The automaker emailed customers saying none of the other models are affected by this issue and there are no injuries or crashes reported in connection with this issue. In the email, Tesla said they’ve “observed excessive corrosion in the power steering bolts” and the issue seems more prevalent in colder climates where road salt is used.

“If the bolts fail, the driver is still able to steer the car, but increased force is required due to loss or reduction of power assist,” Tesla wrote in the email to customers. “This primarily makes the car harder to drive at low speeds and for parallel parking, but does not materially affect control at high speed, where only small steering wheel force is needed.” But Tesla assures Model S owners that they don’t have to stop driving their cars if they haven’t experienced issues. And they would let Model S owners know when a retrofit for their car is available in their area. It’ll take around an hour to install. It is the company's biggest recall, affecting around half of the Model S vehicles built to date. In 2015, Tesla needed to recall 90,000 Model S cars for a seat belt issue, and in the following year, 53,000 Model S and X cars had to have their parking brakes replaced.

Source: The Verge

Tesla’s Q3 marks new quarterly records for vehicle delivery and production

Tesla Model S

In terms of vehicle production and deliveries, Tesla’s managed to set new quarterly records for the third quarter. According to data released by the company, there’s a 70 percent increase for delivery this quarter or a delivery of around 24,500 vehicles and a 37 percent increase in production from 18,345 to 25,185. The models delivered were made up of 15,800 Model S sedans and 8,700 Model X SUVs. Around 5,500 more vehicles are in transit to customers by the end of Q3.

Tesla expects Q4 deliveries and production to be roughly the same to Q3, even if Q4 is a shorter quarter and there is “the challenge of delivering vehicles winter weather over holidays.” The company also believes that it’ll reach the estimated 50,000 vehicles delivered in the second half of the year. 

Tesla to automate car parking with Summon feature

There will come a day when your car will be parking itself in your garage, at least Tesla’s cars can do that in the immediate future. The company released a new version of its software for the Model S and Model X. The version 7.1 of the software introduces a new Summon feature, which allows these cars to enter and exit parking spaces on their own. All you need to do is click on a button on the key fob to activate Summon. The Tesla then gets into enter or exit mode for garages and perpendicular parking spaces. For the garage, this uses Homelink garage door tool and it has to be on flat surfaces. The feature, though, is currently in beta but it could work in conjunction with Tesla’s other technologies in the future.

Source: Mashable