announced an investigation into 280,000 new Tesla and after receiving a dozen complaints about steering failures from owners, reports.
According to the , only issue has even resulted in a crash. That driver reported that the “felt stuck and slid off the road which resulted in crashing into a tree,” according to the outlet. Another driver, in June noted, that their two-week-old Model Y was leaving a shopping center when “suddenly did not steer. It was hard and saw the alert. Went to very close to opposite side of traffic and some how made it to across the road inside the shopping center.”
Another complaint alleged that a Tesla Model Y that was less than a month old turned on and the “wheel jerked hard right and made a thud.” A warning popped up on the screen that said “Steering Assist Reduced” along with an error code. That owner said the power steering was disabled and reportedly told NHTSA it felt unsafe to steer. He then added that “Tesla has moved my service visit from May 2 to May 25 due to a backlog of parts. They confirmed this is a recently known issue and noted the rack may be replaced entirely.”
Another driver in Hawaii will also be waiting a few weeks for their Tesla to be repaired, reporting that just a week after purchasing a Tesla, the steering wheel began locking up randomly. He said it occurred six times on different dates before he was able to get it to a Tesla service center, where it remains, waiting for parts.
According to Reuters, this probe is the first step of a formal investigation by NHTSA to figure out if the issue poses an “.” After this, it would become an engineering analysis before it could demand that Tesla recall the vehicles.