Tesla malfunctions: From recalls to car fires, a look back at Tesla’s 2022 woes

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Dan Smith


T.His year started with some trouble for electric car maker Tesla. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced in February that it had launched an investigation of more than 400,000 Teslas following his 354 complaints about phantom brakes.

That investigation later expanded to a total of eight, including 14 recalls for Tesla's latest 2021 Model Y and 13 recalls for the 2021 Model 3. Combined, the two models received about 1,000 complaints due to non-functioning taillights and broken windows. A passenger is pinched, or the seat belt is not assembled correctly.

Green Hills Software CEO Dan O'Dowd announced in April that he would be running for the Democratic nomination for the California Senate, citing Tesla CEO Elon Musk as saying Musk called an "unsafe Tesla." of fully self-driving cars recklessly on our roads." "

O'Dowd referenced research that found self-driving cars were responsible for a citation worth of traffic violations every eight minutes. It called Tesla's fully self-driving car "the most dangerous software." He ultimately lost the race in the primary with just about 1% of the vote.

Driver kicked out of burning Tesla after losing control

Instead, Musk didn't slow down his self-driving software Announced in November Completion of the 11th version of the fully autonomous driving software. This latest version enables more self-driving features than previous iterations and is expected to be available on all of Tesla's 2023 models.

Collisions involving Tesla have occasionally escalated into fires that are notoriously difficult to extinguish, according to paramedic and Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Chief Parker Wilborn. In his first shootout against an electric car, he needed 4,500 gallons of water to extinguish the fire.

Tesla makes clear in its emergency response guide that 3,000 to 8,000 gallons of water may be required to extinguish a fire. In fact, according to Wilbourne's conversations with other firefighters who extinguished fires involving Tesla, that's like 20,000 gallons for him.

However, the 2023 Model 3 will continue to produce engines without a cooling system and will remove the grille from the exterior that previously allowed ventilation. 44 cases were found, of which 44 were fatal.

Some Tesla owners have made headlines on social media by going public with their car's problems. It's always sunny in Philadelphia Actor Glenn Howerton complained about his Tesla's failure on the podcast, sharing the story of having to leave his car in a parking lot in Los Angeles overnight after the car's keyless entry system and key fob failed.

Howerton was a Tesla customer for 10 years, but vowed never to buy one again. TikTok user Mario Zelaya has amassed 34,000 followers after a similar effort. Zelaya recorded that the 2013 Series S battery died after only 75,000 miles on the odometer.

Despite the bad luck, corporate giant Warren Buffett praised the success of the electric car company's initial public offering 12 years ago.

"Elon is fighting General Motors, Ford, Toyota, everybody who has everything, and he has an idea," Buffett said. "And he's winning. That's America. I can't imagine it. It's amazing."

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