Here's Why Tesla Just Recalled 48,000 Model 3s

Tesla has issued a recall of over 48,000 Model 3 Performance cars in the United States following complaints related to speedometer issues when Track Mode was enabled. According to the latest safety notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla is to recall 48,184 units of the Model 3 Performance model EV made between 2018 and 2022. According to car owner complaints, the speedometer didn't display the speed unit at which a car was cruising when Track Mode was activated.

To put it simply, the UI only showed the numerical figure but didn't display a unit of speed (mph or km/h). According to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard rules, a car must tell users how fast it is moving for the sake of driver and passenger safety. The remedial course of action prescribed by NHTSA is to release an over-the-air software update that brings the firmware up to version 2022.12 or newer.

The aforementioned speedometer issue plagues cars with firmware versions between 2021.44.25 and 2022.12. Tesla car owners can check for the availability of the update by opening the Controls section on their car's touchscreen dashboard and navigating down the Software page. The speedometer issue was not in compliance with motor safety rule FMVSS 101, S 5.2 "Identification" which makes it mandatory for cars driving in the U.S. to display an accurate unit of speed at all times.

According to the Safety Report issued by the NHTSA, at the time of issuing the recall, Tesla was not aware of any accidents or fatalities that may have resulted from the software issue. The corrective software update will be free of charge, and Tesla will send an email notification to affected Model 3 owners in June 2022. In the meanwhile, owners have been advised to reach the company's official support helpline (1-877-798-3752) or NHTSA's hotline (1-888-327-4236) for further assistance.

The problematic firmware (v2021.44.25) started rolling out in December 2021, but the issue was only identified by Tesla's team in March 2022. Following an internal review in the first week of April, a plan to recall over 48,000 affected units was made. For the unaware, Track Mode allows Performance models of the Tesla Model 3 to extract more performance out of its dual-motor system and also fine-tune the vehicle's handling.

This latest Tesla recall adds to a series of service callbacks from the last several months. In February, the company was forced to recall approximately 54,000 vehicles due to "rolling stop" issues with their Full Self-Driving feature. A few months before that, the Elon Musk-led company also recalled nearly half a million Model 3 and Model S due to a trunk issue that could damage the vehicle's rearview camera hardware. Tesla has experienced record growth in the past few quarters in terms of revenue figures and shipments, but it appears that recall demons aren't leaving the company's side anytime soon.