Big recall for Tesla Model S and Model X

Tesla Australia has announced a nationwide recall for more than 2500 examples of the Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X due to software malfunctions that have been identified with the battery-electric luxury sedan and SUV.

The recall affects a total of 2508 vehicles, including 1774 Model S cars across the 2014-2018 model years and 734 Model X SUVs from MY2016-2018, all of which are fitted with an 8GB embedded Multimedia Card (eMMC) in the media control unit.

According to the recall notice, the malfunction may occur “over time”, and could result in a number of faults including the display blacking out completely.

Tesla says that if a malfunction occurs “the central display may black out and not recover after restarting the touch-screen; and/or there may be a loss of certain functionalities, including rear-view camera back-up, exterior turn signal lighting and windshield defogging and defrosting controls; and/or a vehicle alert to contact Service may appear”.

It added that “the loss of these functions may increase the risk of an accident resulting in injury to the vehicle occupants and other road users”.

Affected owners will be contacted by mail, advising them to make an appointment to have the “VCM daughterboard replaced with an enhanced eMMC controller, free of charge”.

The US car-maker also said that if owners “receive a vehicle alert signalling device storage degradation or are experiencing persistent black centre display that does not recover after restarting the touch-screen”, they should contact Tesla customer service on 1800 686 705.

You can click here for a list of VIN numbers relating to the affected vehicles, while Tesla has also posted further information on its website.