Senators demand Tesla recall electric vehicles following 'alarming' report; automaker says allegations false
Two senators from Connecticut and Massachusetts have written to Tesla's top executive, Elon Musk, calling on him to "swiftly" recall steering and suspension parts after Reuters' "alarming" report.
The letter cited "an alarming" Reuters investigation that reported the electric vehicle company allegedly blamed drivers for frequent failures of components, despite knowing that certain parts were flawed.
In a letter to Tesla Inc., Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) expressed "extreme concern" regarding the safety flaws and concealment of Tesla vehicles.
"We write with extreme concern following recent reporting about Tesla’s knowledge of safety flaws in its vehicles and concealment of the causes of these flaws from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," the Democrat senator wrote, according to Reuters.
The senators called on Musk to correct "apparent false and misleading representations" made to NHTSA.
"Tesla must stop blaming customers and recall their malfunctioning vehicles," Markey wrote in an X post.
The Reuters report, published on Dec. 20, said that Tesla told the NHTSA and customers that the frequent failures of defective parts in its vehicles were caused by driver "abuse."
Reuters said it reviewed documents that Tesla engineers tracked "frequent failures" in the electric vehicle's suspension, steering mechanism and axle parts.
Tesla documents reviewed by Reuters showed that the automaker allegedly instructed service managers to tell customers that the parts were not faulty despite knowing that they were.
"We are disturbed that you would blame your customers for these failures," Sens. Blumenthal and Markey said. "It is unacceptable that Tesla would not only attempt to shift the responsibility for the substandard quality of its vehicles to the people purchasing them, but also make that same flawed argument to NHTSA."
Following Reuter's report, Tesla wrote a lengthy response on X, saying that it is, "riddled with incomplete and demonstrably incorrect information."
"Reuters published an article that leads with a wildly misleading headline and is riddled with incomplete and demonstrably incorrect information. This latest piece vaguely and nonsensically suggests there are thousands upon thousands of disgruntled Tesla customers," Tesla wrote in the X post.
"It’s nonsensical because it’s nonfactual—the reality is Tesla’s customer retention is among the best and highest in the industry," Tesla wrote in the X post.
Tesla argued that the automaker paid for most of the 120,000 vehicle repairs under warranty.
The electric vehicle company also said that they are the "most advanced vehicle telemetry system that can identify emerging issues, determine scope, and allow for faster vehicle and service improvements than has ever been seen in the auto industry."
Tesla said that it fixes "90%+ of problems without even needing the customer present."
"The best service is no service," Tesla wrote on X. "When service must be done, we fix 90%+ problems without even needing the customer present – either through over-the-air updates or with mobile service at a customer’s house or workplace."
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Tesla Inc., Sen. Blumenthal and Sen. Ed Markey did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.