Tesla has issued a massive recall for its cars in China, but it wasn’t alone.
On Monday, the company recalled 2,975,910 vehicles in the country over Tesla’s emergency mechanical door release, which the Chinese regulator found difficult to identify and operate.
Tesla vehicles have flush door handles on the outside, and are opened by pressing a button from the inside, but there’s an additional mechanical release latch within the car door that opens it in case of emergency. However, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) found that this latch matches the color of the interior trim too closely, potentially making it hard to find in an emergency.
In total, 973,156 China-built Model 3s, and 1,956,713 Model Ys were recalled, alongside 35,590 imported Model 3s, 8,328 imported Model Xs, and 2,123 imported Model S vehicles.
Other car manufacturers including Xiaomi, Xpeng, and Geely issued recalls for similar issues in their cars as well.
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This is Tesla’s largest recall in China, but it won’t be as costly as it appears. The company plans to solve it with warning labels, as well as an over-the-air update that makes the car’s windows lower automatically after a collision.
Additionally and separately, Tesla issued a recall for over 2 million cars in China over inadequate driver monitoring. SAMR found that Tesla’s system of checking whether the driver holds the wheel is insufficient, requiring instead that Teslas also track the driver’s eyes. This is a solution that Tesla already implements in some models and markets, and will be remedied with a software update.
This recall covers a total of 2,740,642 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, all manufactured in China.
Tesla’s door handles were the subject of a probe in the U.S. following reports that door handles in several Model Ys stopped working, leaving children trapped in the cars. It’s unclear whether Tesla plans to issue any sort of recall related to the door handles globally.
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