It’s no secret that Tesla has been met with plenty of criticism. Complaints range from build quality to software issues. However, a new car having issues is certainly not exclusive to Tesla or even EVs. Virtually every automotive manufacturer has a recall currently active. However, Tesla has an interesting solution to recalls that many other manufacturers do not.

Over-the-air recall repair means Tesla owners don’t need to go to service centers

According to InsideEVs, Tesla announced a recall for certain Model 3 models. The recall is for an issue with the speedometer display.

According to the NHTSA recall notice, these particular Model 3 Performance units may not display the speedometer when the car is put in track mode. Obviously, having no speed display at all can be quite dangerous. Though track mode isn’t intended for street use and a speedometer isn’t the most important thing when behind the wheel on a race track, Tesla obviously does not want its vehicles to go without a speedometer display.

The recall only affects 48,184 cars in the U.S. So, it’s certainly not to the massive scale of some recalls in the past. However, the most interesting part of this recall is the way Tesla is handling the necessary repairs.

In most cases, when a car gets a recall, vehicle owners will receive a notice by mail or phone. Then, the owners of the vehicle must take their vehicle to a dealer or repair center for the recall repairs. It can be quite inconvenient and time-consuming. However, Tesla’s recall repair is a bit different. Like many other software corrections and updates in Tesla’s past, the EV giant is handling this repair remotely. The affected vehicles will automatically receive a software update to correct the issue.

The issue came up after a December 2021 firmware update

Another interesting tidbit about this recall is that some of these vehicles didn’t have this problem before. The recall states that the affected model years are 2018 through 2022. However, the issue only came up after a December 2021 firmware update. In the process of correcting some other issues, Tesla’s software update incidentally created this one.

InsideEVs also reports that Tesla has the second-highest number of recalls so far for 2022, with Ford sitting in first place. So far, the Elon Musk-led company has issued a total of 10 NHTSA recall campaigns covering a total of 2.1 million vehicles. Like this recall, though, most of them saw repairs over the air.
These over-the-air repairs are an interesting look into the future of recalls and repairs. While many folks are still a bit leary of companies having access to their vehicles remotely, there’s no doubt it can be beneficial in cases like this. After all, a quick trudge through modern NHTSA recalls will show you that many recall issues have to do with software. So, with over-the-air updates and corrections, manufacturers could resolve many vehicle issues without interrupting a customer’s daily routine.

Fewer trips to dealerships always sound like a winning plan!