New York: Tesla is recalling 2.2 million of its vehicles on US roads because the font size of the warning lights on its display is too small, according to federal safety regulators.
The recall was announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which said it discovered the problem during a routine audit of Tesla vehicles.
“Warning lights with a smaller font size can make critical safety information on the instrument panel difficult to read, increasing the risk of a crash,” according to the agency’s notice.
Tesla said it is not aware of any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.
The problem will be fixed with an over-the-air software update that will not require Tesla owners to bring their vehicles into a Tesla service center.
The recall covers most but not all Teslas on US roads. The models that are covered include the newly released Cybertruck pickup, the Model X and Model Y SUV up to and including the current 2024 model year, and the Model S and Model 3 sedan up to and including the 2023 model year.
This is a far less significant recall than some of those ordered previously for the electric vehicle maker. In December another over-the-air recall was ordered to limit the use of its Autopilot feature following the NHTSA’s two-year probe of roughly 1,000 crashes in which the feature was engaged.
A year ago, Tesla also recalled all 363,000 US vehicles then on the road with its “full self-driving” or FSD feature after NHTSA’s finding that cars operating with the feature would violate traffic laws, including “traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.”
And NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board have been investigating incidents involving Tesla vehicles using the various driver assist features, including a series of crashes into emergency vehicles on the scene of other accidents.
Tesla charges more for FSD and its promise of a self-driving car, while now in a beta phase, is a major selling point for the company to both car buyers and investors.
