Tesla recalls nearly half a million electric cars for safety reasons

San Francisco, December 30 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) The U.S. Road Safety Controller said Thursday that it is recalling more than 475,000 of its Model 3 and Model S electric cars to address rearview camera and trunk issues that increase accident risk.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is discussing another camera issue with the vehicle manufacturer while inspecting the company’s driving assistant system.

Model years affected by the recall range from 2014 to 2021, and the total number of vehicles recalled is equal to half a million vehicles delivered by Tesla last year.

The Federal Regulator said the U.S. electric vehicle maker is recalling 356,309 2017-2020 Model 3 vehicles due to rearview camera problems and 119,009 Model S vehicles due to front hood problems.

Tesla could not be reached for comment.

For Model 3 sedans, NHTSA said, “opening and closing the trunk lid can damage the rearview camera cable harness, preventing the rearview camera from showing the image.”

Tesla has identified 2,301 warranty claims and 601 field reports on the issue of U.S. vehicles.

For Model S vehicles, Tesla said, the latch could “cause the trunk to open without warning and obstruct the driver’s vision, which would increase the risk of an accident.”

Tesla said it was unaware of the accidents, injuries or deaths related to the issues cited in the recall of the Model 3 and Model S cars, the NHTSA said.

Shares of Tesla fell as much as 3% in the morning, but rose again and finally traded around $ 1,088.76. The world’s most valuable automaker is expected to record first quarter vehicle deliveries on Saturday.

Camera problem

This month, the NHTSA said it was talking to Tesla about sideview camera problems in some vehicles. L1N2SU2EA

CNBC has announced that Tesla will replace defective repeater cameras on the front fenders of some US-made vehicles without recalling parts.

NHTSA is investigating the automaker’s decision to allow 580,000 Tesla vehicles to play games on car screens while in operation. read more

According to the NHTSA, Tesla has agreed to eliminate such gaming features when moving its cars. read more

Under pressure from the NHTSA, Tesla agreed to recall 135,000 vehicles with touchscreen displays in February, which could lead to failure and increased accident risk. read more

In August, after a series of accidents involving Tesla models and emergency vehicles, the NHTSA opened a systematic safety inspection of Tesla Inc.’s Driving Assistance System automated pilot. read more

Report by Hyunju Jin in San Francisco and Akash Sriram in Bangalore; Additional Report by David Shepherdson in Washington; Editing by David Clark, Anil de Silva, Alistair Bell and David Gregorio

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