Tesla has issued an OTA recall globally, including approximately 1.85 million vehicles in the United States. This recall covers software failing to detect an unlatched hood before driving.
Vehicles began receiving the software update in June to correct the issue.
Hood Recall
An unlatched hood could come loose due to wind and become fully open, obstructing the driver’s view. This could increase the risk of a crash or other incident. The recall affects vehicles with a hood latch produced in China by Magna Closures Co Ltd., including 2021-2024 Model 3, Model S, and Model X vehicles and 2020-2024 Model Y vehicles.
The issue was first noticed in China, initiating latch hardware recovery and vehicle inspections. After an engineering study, Tesla decided to issue a voluntary recall. A few incidents were reported in North America and Europe with the hood sensors not detecting the hoods closing, but no accidents occurred.
On an interesting engineering note – Tesla noticed the deformation associated with the latch sensors failing to detect the open hood in China. North American and European vehicles, even with the same part, were less likely to have the issue.
OTA Update
The issue has already been fixed for most Tesla vehicles, with an OTA software update fixing the issue in software update 2024.20.3 back in June. The release notes however didn’t list the change.
Tesla’s OTA software updates are an excellent example of how modern safety recalls should function, with closely integrated technologies able to be fixed across nearly 2 million vehicles, with just a minor software update.
The update will now detect that the hood is unlatched or open and will alert the driver.
Owner notifications in the United States won’t be mailed out until September 22 – well after nearly every single Tesla has already received the corrective software update. In most other countries, the digital recall notification should arrive in your email inbox sometime soon.
