The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Wednesday it is opening a preliminary investigation into 120,000 2023 Tesla Model Y vehicles following two reports of steering wheels coming off while driving.
The US auto safety regulator said the steering wheels of both vehicles, which had low mileage, completely came off. The cars were delivered to owners without the hold down bolt that secures the steering wheel to the steering column.
The agency is opening a preliminary investigation to assess the “scope, frequency, and manufacturing processes associated with this condition”.
The investigation is a first step before NHTSA can require a recall.
The agency said it received a complaint from a parent who had purchased a Model Y five days earlier and was on Route 1 South in Woodbridge, New Jersey on January 29.”and suddenly the steering wheel” he fell. “I was lucky there was no car behind and I was able to pull the separator”.
NHTSA posted a link to a tweet as part of the complaint filing. The post has received more than 2.4 million views on Twitter. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The NHTSA said that “both vehicles received an end-of-line repair that required the removal and reinstallation of the steering wheel”.
The agency said that a “Friction fit maintained the connection between the flywheel and the column splines during operation until separation. Sudden separation occurred when the force exerted on the steering wheel exceeded the resistance of the friction fit while the vehicles were in motion”.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
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