Tesla has announced another recall. That may not seem like much news, until you realize that there have been 10 recalls since October 2021. TEN! In four months. Is the Tesla dynasty starting to crumble? 

Tesla is a manufacturer, but also a tech company

“Tesla has one foot in auto-making, which is difficult, and they’re not experienced and arguably not that good at it yet,” said Bloomberg’s intelligence analyst. “The other foot is in technology, where this is what you get when you push the envelope and the regulatory environment isn’t completely in place yet.”

To be fair, some of these recalls are not recalls in the traditional sense. Rather, they are over-the-air recalls. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration still says that when it involves a safety issue, then it is a recall. This is the over-the-air type, and it involves almost 27,000 vehicles spanning all of Tesla’s models. 

This latest problem is an issue that doesn’t allow the windshield defroster to work. A valve in the heat pump will sometimes open randomly, causing the refrigerant to become trapped inside of the evaporator. This doesn’t allow the defroster to heat the windshield fast enough.

What were the other nine Tesla recalls about?

Unfortunately, this is now number 10 in the Tesla recall hit parade for the previous four months. Let’s review them, and see if it weakens, or strengthens, your esteem for the EV company. 

The ninth recall was just five days ago. It involved an issue with the seat belt reminder alert system. Over 800,000 of the EVs were part of the recall. This one was fixed with an over-the-air software update. And one week ago, a recall was issued for a faulty touchscreen on 135,000 Model S and Model X Teslas. Control of certain functions could not be done from the touchscreen, including the rearview camera display. 

On the first of February, 54,000 cars were recalled resulting from its November recall of the forward-looking safety systems. This one affects the rolling stop feature with its AutoPilot autonomous system. Tesla opted to remove the feature entirely. This one also affected all models across Tesla’s product lineup.

In December 2021 almost 500,000 Teslas were recalled

Tesla issued a recall affecting almost 500,000 Model 3 and Model S sedans on December 30, 2021. This recall involved two issues. For the Model S, there was an issue with the secondary hood latch. The potential was for the hood to pop up while the car was in motion. 

For the Model 3 sedan, the recall was for the rearview camera not displaying properly. A severed wiring harness to the camera was the problem. Obviously, both of these recalls required owners to get fixes at Tesla service centers.

November saw three more recalls

In November 2021, Tesla issued three recalls. One involved false automatic emergency braking events, and forward-collision warnings. An over-the-air update fixed this issue. The next one was an airbag issue involving 7,600 vehicles. The third was over rear suspension knuckles fracturing on Model Y sedans.

In October there were two recalls. One involved 3,000 Model Y and Model 3 sedans for loose fasteners that attach the front suspension to the body. Also on the 24th, a recall over twisted side curtain airbags caused deployment issues. 

That’s the quick rundown on the 10 Tesla recalls in only four months. The NHTSA has hinted there could be more coming soon as there are numerous investigations involving Tesla EVs. Let’s hope there aren’t.