Tesla Recalls 2.2M More Vehicles as Federal Regulators Widen Safety Probe

Tesla recalled 2.2 million vehicles in the U.S. on Thursday, and on Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) expanded its probe into reports of power steering loss in Tesla vehicles.

The Details:  According to the recall notice the NHTSA sent Tesla, the font size for Tesla’s brake warning system is smaller than the one-eighth of an inch required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). The NHTSA says the undersized font "can make critical safety information on the instrument panel difficult to read, increasing the risk of a crash." Meanwhile, the NHTSA says it's aware of reports that over 50 Teslas have been towed as a result of a power steering issue, and is investigating roughly 334,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from 2023.

For Context: The free-of-charge recall involves a software update and doesn't require Tesla owners to physically bring their car to a dealership, as many traditional recalls do. Tesla has sold roughly 2 million cars in the U.S. since 2015. Earlier this week, the manufacturer recalled nearly 200,000 vehicles over a software issue with the rearview cameras, and in December, it recalled virtually all of its cars in the U.S. for a safety software upgrade to the autopilot system.

How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum highlighted Tesla news on Friday.