Tesla’s new recall covers a software issue with vehicles’ hood latch detection.
This week, Tesla opened a new voluntary recall covering 1,849,638 vehicles — in other words, a substantial portion of its vehicles built between the 2021 and 2024 model years. Specifically, the automaker tells the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) the subject population vehicles include Model 3 cars manufactured between September 21, 2020 and June 2, 2024, as well as all 2021-2024 Model S, Model X, and 2020-2024 Model Y vehicles. All these vehicles were equipped with a hood (frunk) latch produced by Magna Closures Co Ltd. in China.
In mid-April, Tesla identified an issue with deformed latch switches in Chinese market vehicles, which “could prevent the customer from being notified of an open hood state.” As a result, vehicle hoods could inadvertently open while someone is driving, obstructing their view and increasing the risk of an accident.
For some unknown reason, instances of such latch issues are more prevalent in China than they are in Europe or North America. However, Tesla did receive three warranty claims or field reports for U.S. vehicles that may be related to the condition, as of July 20, 2024. The automaker told safety regulators it isn’t aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths related to the problem.
As of July 17, Tesla’s engineering analysis into the hood latch switch deformation is ongoing.
So, what’s the fix?
As those studies are ongoing, Tesla undertook a common solution to address the problem: an over-the-air software update. As part of its firmware release 2024.20.3 which initially rolled out on June 18, vehicles now “detects the open hood and provides a customer-facing user interface notification of the hood open state.”
In other words, most of the 1.8 million vehicles that are regularly connected to a Wi-Fi network should have already received the firmware update to incorporate an open hood state warning to the other. Vehicles that may still be included in the recall population, per Tesla, have not have this update, and are running a version that will not alert the driver to the frunk being option. At no point in the auotmaker’s correspondence with the NHTSA, however, does Tesla suggest there is a mechanical problem or failure risk with the latches themselves.
Service advisors throughout the company’s network should already be aware of this recall, while Tesla states it will notify owners on September 22. More information on the recall is available on the NHTSA’s website (under recall number 24V-554).
