Tesla has announced a recall for 48,184 Model 3 Performance vehicles in the US as the speedometer may be displayed incorrectly while Track Mode is engaged.
According to the recall notice, "the unit of speed (mph or km/h) may fail to display on the speedometer while in Track Mode." While a number showing the speed is displayed, it is not accompanied by the unit of speed, making it unclear if the car is operating in kilometers or miles per hour.
The driver may not know how fast the vehicle is traveling without the mph or km/h unit display, increasing the risk of a crash.
NHTSA recall notice
The recall was announced shortly after Tesla opened a similar action in China for 14,684 Model 3 Performance EVs, taking the total of vehicles recalled for this issue to almost 62,900 vehicles.
The recall covers vehicles from the 2018 through 2022 model years but does not involve bringing the affected cars to the dealers. Customers won't have to do anything as Tesla will perform an over-the-air software update to address the issue.
The EV maker said a firmware update released in December 2021 unintentionally removed the speed unit from the user interface.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the affected Tesla Model 3 Performance vehicles do not comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 101, "Control and Displays."
Consequently, if drivers do not know how fast they are traveling it could increase the risk of a crash.
This is the latest in a series of Tesla recalls over the last year, some of which were issued by the automaker under pressure from NHTSA.
Tesla has issued a total of 10 recall campaigns in 2022 covering 2.1 million vehicles, NHTSA data shows, with some vehicles being covered by more than one campaign. That is the second highest number of vehicles recalled this year behind Ford Motor Company.
However, the vast majority of the recalled Tesla vehicles were subject to over-the-air fixes, whereas most Ford recalls involved visits to dealers.
