Tesla can breathe a sigh of relief regarding one of its older safety concerns. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Tuesday that it has officially closed its investigation into 120,089 2023 Tesla Model Y vehicles without requiring any further action or recalls from the automaker.
According to a report from Reuters, the regulator’s decision ends a preliminary evaluation that began in early 2023. The agency originally stepped in after receiving two separate reports of steering wheels detaching from the steering column while the vehicles were in motion.
The Root of the Detachment
According to the NHTSA, the issue was traced back to a missing retaining bolt. Both affected vehicles were manufactured during the first week of January 2023 at Tesla's Austin, Texas, and Fremont, California, plants. Interestingly, both cars had undergone end-of-line repairs before they were delivered to customers. These repairs required the steering wheel to be removed and reinstalled, which is where the critical retaining bolt was missed.
Tesla confirmed the error and fixed both vehicles under warranty at the time. In its closing statement, the regulator mentioned it found no additional incidents. Furthermore, because the two known failures occurred within the first 400 miles of driving, the agency believes any other affected vehicles would have already experienced a detachment by now. While the case is closed for now, the NHTSA warned that this "does not constitute a finding that no safety-related defect exists," reserving the right to take further action if new information surfaces.
Tesla’s Ongoing Regulatory Dance
This outcome is a rare "win" in what has been a busy season of oversight for Tesla. The company has a long and documented history of landing in hot water with the regulator over its hardware and autonomous ambitions. For instance, the NHTSA recently upgraded a probe into Full Self-Driving (Supervised) regarding low-visibility performance to a much more serious "engineering analysis".
The agency has also scrutinized everything from FSD's aggressive "Mad Max" speed profile to the design of Tesla’s emergency door releases. Even steering hasn't been a stranger to controversy; back in 2023, the agency also investigated 280,000 Tesla vehicles over reported power steering failures. However, Tesla has seen some progress lately, with the NHTSA also ending a year-long investigation into Actually Smart Summon, which notably got a major upgrade last week with FSD v14.3.2.
A Safer Path Forward
The closure of the steering wheel probe is good news for 2023 Model Y owners who might have been worried about their hardware. It shows that the issue was likely a very isolated manufacturing fluke rather than a widespread design flaw. Tesla is already moving to address other hardware concerns, such as its plan for a new interior door release that combines electronic and mechanical latches into a single button.
As Tesla continues to refine its software with regular updates, keeping the physical hardware reliable is just as important as the code. With this investigation now in the rearview mirror, Tesla can focus on the massive software leaps expected later this year.
