Tesla is having a particularly lousy week. The Wall Street Journal reports the EV manufacturer has recalled a total of 80,561 cars in China over software and seat belt problems. Battery management glitches affecting 67,698 Model S and Model X vehicles could lead to unexpected stops, according to the country’s State Administration for Market Regulation, while 12,863 Model 3 sedans have seat belt issues.
As with some recalls, Tesla is fixing the battery software with over-the-air updates. It’s not known if the flaws have resulted in any collisions or injuries, or are directly related to past faults. In February, Tesla recalled 817,143 cars across its lineup over buggy seat belt chimes.
This is the third recall in one week for Elon Musk’s outfit. Tesla recalled nearly 30,000 Model X SUVs over troublesome airbag behavior, and 321,000 Model 3 and Model Y EVs due to software-related rear light anomalies. This comes alongside numerous recalls throughout the rest of 2022, including over 1 million vehicles with pinching windows and a Full Self Driving beta oversight that let cars roll through stop signs. While Tesla has quickly released patches for software-linked bugs, the sheer number of recalls has clearly been a hassle for owners.
Recalls like these may be hurting Tesla’s reputation. Consumer Reports recently placed Tesla near the bottom of its annual reliability survey. Although that’s a slight improvement and reflective of teething troubles for EVs as a whole, it doesn’t help Tesla’s attempts to court newcomers used to a certain level of quality from conventional cars.
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