Tesla delivers over-the-air software patches to fix 26,047 Shanghai-made electric cars in recall

Tesla will deliver an over-the-air software patch to fix 12,003 Model 3 electric sedans and 14,044 Model Y sports-utility vehicles (SUVs)
The virtual recall applies to vehicles that rolled off Tesla’s Gigafactory in Shanghai between December 28, 2020 and January 15, 2022

Tesla

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 8:26pm, 18 Feb 2022

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Tesla will use its over-the-air (OTA) patch to update the software on more than 26,000 Shanghai-made electric vehicles to repair a glitch that could cause heat pump compressors to stop working.

The carmaker will deliver a software patch to fix 12,003 Model 3 electric sedans and 14,044 Model Y sports-utility vehicles (SUVs), in a virtual recall of vehicles that rolled off its Gigafactory in Shanghai between December 28, 2020 and January 15, 2022, according to a statement by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).

Tesla’s latest software fix follows the recall last November when it took back 21,599 Model Ys, almost one of every four SUVs it assembled in Shanghai during the first 10 months of 2021. Still, the fixes have not dented customers’ enthusiasm for Tesla, which outsells its nearest competitor by nearly three-to-one.

“Constant recalls by Tesla do not seem to have an impact on sales,” said Tian Maowei, a manager with Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai. “Thousands of Tesla fans in China believe that these defects are all one-off issues and can be fixed through recalls.”

Tesla’s Model Y crossover electric vehicle on display during an unveiling event in Hawthorne, California on Friday, March 15, 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

Tesla’s 2021 deliveries soared 117 per cent to 321,000 vehicles, cementing its position as the bellwether of the electric car industry in China.

Sales of so-called new-energy vehicles (NEVs) – comprising pure electric, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell cars – rose 169 per cent last year in China to 2.99 million units, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). NEV deliveries could advance by another 84 per cent this year to top 5.5 million units, according to the guild’s general secretary Cui Dongshu.

A Mercedes-Benz EQC luxury electric automobile at the Inter Battery 2021 in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.Photo: Bloomberg

Tesla’s latest software glitch can cause engine valves to remain open unnecessarily, leading to a failure in the heat pump compressor, according to SAMR’s statement. Customers are likely to be deterred only by defects arising from faulty battery packs that lead to engine fires, analysts said.

Tesla was not the sole carmaker to recall vehicles. Beijing Benz, a venture between BAIC Motor and Mercedes-Benz, announced that it’s taking back 10.104 of its EQC electric cars to repair a motor problem.

The EQC was the first electric car introduced by Mercedes-Benz in China when it hit the market in November 2019. Its retail price starts from 499,800 yuan (US$78,800), going up to 579,800 yuan, higher than the 300,000 yuan for Tesla’s locally made models.

Analysts said that more recalls involving electric vehicles (EVs) would take place in the coming years amid an accelerated pace of electrification on the mainland roads.

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