Tesla Semi
Courtesy: Tesla
Tesla has issued a voluntary recall of the Semi, the first since the company began delivering heavy-duty electric trucks to customers in December 2022.
According to recall documents posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) website, 35 Semi trucks are affected. The trucks were built with the electronic parking brake valve module that contained the defect by the Bendix supplier in February 2023.
This defect made drivers vulnerable to “rollback” incidents and increased the likelihood of an accident. According to the recall notice, the defective modules may “fail to move into park when the parking brake is engaged,” leaving drivers unaware that their Semi may roll away. According to the documents, the parking brake component defect did not cause the crash or any injuries.
While Tesla showed off the design of the Semi in late 2017, it only started producing the trucks in Nevada last year and began deliveries to its first customer, Pepsi, at a marketing event late last year.
In documents on the NHTSA website, Tesla said it will “replace the parking brake valve module with a revised part with improved internals that prevent air leakage and allow the driver to engage and disengage the parking brakes.”
Elon Musk’s electric car maker is expected to report its first-quarter 2023 vehicle production and shipments this weekend. Tesla has not previously reported semi-finished production and shipments in its quarterly updates.
