A recently publicized Reuters investigation of thousands of Tesla documents revealed that the company blamed drivers of its new cars for failures related to defective parts. And the worst thing is that the company knew these components were defective.
Tesla Model S – view “under the hood”. Image credit: Can Pac Swire via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED license
The types of these failures were often dangerous: wheels of the vehicles were detaching at high speeds, suspensions collapsing in brand-new vehicles, and axles breaking during acceleration. These issues were reported by tens of thousands of Tesla customers in low-mileage cars.
Despite widespread customer complaints, the automaker systematically attempted to attribute the problems to driver ‘abuse.’ However, internal Tesla documents revealed that the company had been monitoring these chronic ‘flaws’ and ‘failures’ for at least seven years.
These persistent issues, occurring in relatively new vehicles, are evident across Tesla’s global model lineup, affecting customers from China to the United States to Europe. This information for this investigation was acquired from the manufacturer’s internal documents and interviews involving more than 20 customers and nine former Tesla managers or service technicians.
Individual suspension or steering issues with Teslas have been a topic of online discussions and news accounts for an extended period, Reuters noted in its article. These documents, which have not been previously reported, expose, for the first time, that the automaker had extensive knowledge about the frequency and severity of the defects, information not fully disclosed to consumers and safety regulators.
Additionally, in instances where customers possessed out-of-warranty cars, the automaker charged them for part replacements, despite internal knowledge among Tesla engineers that these components were either flawed or had high failure rates. Engineers even considered pursuing refunds from suppliers due to these defects.
Covering the years 2016 to 2022, the documents comprise repair reports from Tesla service centers worldwide, analyses and data reviews conducted by engineers focusing on parts with high failure rates, and memos distributed to technicians globally. These memos instructed technicians to inform consumers that broken parts on their vehicles were not faulty, revealing a significant disparity between the information available internally and what was communicated to Tesla’s customer base and regulatory authorities.
While Elon Musk has previously acknowledged certain build-quality issues, particularly with the entry-level Model 3, he maintains that Tesla produces unmatched vehicles. At a recent New York Times event, Musk asserted, “We make the best cars.”
The manner in which Tesla addresses complaints about suspension and steering issues aligns with a broader pattern observed throughout Musk’s corporate empire. This pattern involves dismissing concerns about safety or other issues raised by customers, workers, and other stakeholders as the company hurriedly introduces new products or expands sales.
The documented information highlights ongoing issues with low-tech suspension connections, encompassing upper and lower control arms, fore and aft links. While these parts are relatively inexpensive for Tesla and often go unnoticed by most consumers, they are important in securely connecting a car’s axle and wheels to its body and steering mechanism.
Two additional intricate and costly components that faced frequent failures were the half shafts (the left and right drive axles) and steering racks. The latter often required replacement due to sudden power-steering outages, incidents that some Tesla owners claimed nearly led to accidents.
Written by Alius Noreika