China orders recall of 1.1M Teslas
Tesla Logo.Photo/Brand Logo.
Chinese safety regulators have ordered EV manufacturer Tesla to recall about 1.1 million of her vehicles due to accelerator problems that could increase the rate of accidents.
The State Administration for Market Regulation said in a notice on Friday that the recall involves imported Model S, X and 3 models as well as the Chinese-made Models Y and 3.
The models were produced between January 12, 2019 and April 24, 2023, but it not clear from the notice if those dates applied only to the Chinese-made versions.
The recall, which is scheduled to start May 29, was triggered because drivers are not able to select the regenerative braking system because of the lack of warning when they press hard on the accelerator pedal, the regulators said on their website.
A combination of these issues they added “may increase the probability of mistakenly stepping on the accelerator pedal for a long time, which may increase the risk of collision and pose a safety hazard”.
But the watchdog said Tesla will use an online software update to fix the problem.
At the moment, it is still not clear whether the recall would be extended to other markets as messages were left on Friday for the EV maker Tesla and the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Writing by Tersoo Nicholas