Tesla Recalls Almost 13,000 EVs over Risk of Battery Power Loss

In an era of software-defined vehicles, the difference is one of convenience, not impact/consequence. Not really worth pointing out, unless you're a service department telling owners how to plan their week.

nilkn2• 9 months ago

To the contrary, the fact that this is a physical recall is perhaps the most interesting and noteworthy thing about it.

AlexandrB• 9 months ago

software-defined vehicles

I threw up in my mouth a little upon reading this phrase. Dark times.

Rover2223• 9 months ago

That’s nonsensical, IMO. Software updates should not be considered recalls at all. Unless it’s a critical safety issue that makes the vehicle unusable.

Sohcahtoa822• 9 months ago

The thing is, to most people, "recall" is a strong word that carries major implications.

Yeah, sure, you might be smart enough to understand that the word has a legal definition, and sometimes a recall is an absolute nothingburger. For example, Tesla once had to do a recall because some warning icons on the screen were legally deemed to be a couple pixels too small. Yet, when news outlets announce "Tesla recalls every Model 3 ever made", it's TECHNICALLY true, but will be highly misleading to the general population who now thinks every Model 3 has to be returned.

EDIT: Also, FWIW, even when a recall DOES require a physical change of the car, Tesla's mobile service can often come to you to do it. You don't need to take it to a service center.

SoftTalker2• 9 months ago

Interesting. How many physical repair facilities does Tesla have? I can see this creating quite a backlog.

rconti6• 9 months ago

Well, this is a relatively small recall in automotive terms, so certainly enough to handle this.

bob10292• 9 months ago

What happens in the edge case of losing HV during heavy braking on the freeway? Does the brake booster still function independently of the HV system, or is the driver going to have to push the pedal a lot harder?

ferongr• 9 months ago

The vacuum reservoir of the brake booster in cars with vacuum servo brakes (whether vacuum is generated by the engine or an electric pump is irrelevant) stores enough energy for 3-4 full applications of the brakes.

avianlyric• 9 months ago

EV don’t use vacuum break booster systems anymore. There are much better and more efficient fully electric break booster systems out there which make a lot more sense.

Vacuum break boosters only make sense for ICE vehicles where you already have an existing air pump (the actual engine) providing free “vacuum”, they don’t make sense in EVs where you need to an extra dedicated motor to produce vacuum, to power a vacuum booster system, to boost the breaks. Much better off just using the extra electric motor to directly boost breaks, without the whole vacuum system as a middle man.

Early EVs use vacuum break boosters, but only because they were the only economical solution, given there was little demand for electric break booster systems. After all a vacuum system is cheaper, if you have a free “vacuum source”. But for last decade or so there’s been enough EVs manufactured that electric break booster systems are now more economical for EVs.

To answer GP question, the an electric break booster system is almost certainly powered off the low voltage (12V) accessory system, not the high voltage system. So a high voltage disconnect won’t prevent the break booster from working, assuming the LV battery is working correctly.

diabeetusman• 9 months ago

It's 3 years old, but this video [1] goes over Tesla's electric brake booster (and its lack of vacuum)

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRZ8XDNz2vU

bb123• 9 months ago

Nothing immediately - Teslas have a both a High Voltage system for the traction battery and a Low Voltage system powered by a separate 12-15V battery. The HV system keeps the LV system charged and most critical safety related functions run on the 12V system. The booster, ABS/ESP, airbags, and steering assist are all designed to remain functional long enough for a controlled stop after an HV disconnection.

You obviously wouldn't be able to speed up again, which depending on the situation, would be where the danger lies.

MrBuddyCasino• 9 months ago

Didn‘t they switch to 48V?

ajross3• 9 months ago

Tesla brakes are conventional. Yes, the driver has to push harder if the hydraulics fail, same as any car. There's nothing unique to the failure here, normal cars run their boosters off of the power train too (via belts or vacuum usually, also some have 12V pumps and would be subject to exactly this kind failure).

As to whether the booster is run off of the 400V or 12V bus I don't actually know. My guess would be the latter, honestly, since the parts would be more generic. But in any case it probably doesn't matter if the main battery fails as the 12V battery is tiny and would probably not provide enough power to run the hydraulics without the DC/DC converter.

waffletower2• 9 months ago

Seems really odd to me to have 400V brake regeneration and run the brake booster off of 12V, but quick searches don't reveal the answer for a Tesla or even a Prius.

xxs3• 9 months ago

12V battery is tiny and would probably not provide enough power

LiFePO4 is capable of providing massive amounts of current for its size (way higher than a conventional acid one). 100A is not that high amount of current to run even with 4s4p setup. A 10kg battery would be beyond sufficient (should be able to fully power the brake system for 1h use).

Note: jump on the brakes is expected to consume around 1200W

bilsbie• 9 months ago

Steer by wire terrifies me. I guess they have thought through every failure mode?

declan_roberts• 9 months ago

I lost power steering once in my car and even THAT was frightening.

xeromal• 9 months ago

The brake booster should have enough pressure for a few seconds of hard braking. They commonly fail on my vehicle (2003 LX470) and most people get a warning during failure and are able to come to a stop during the short few second window.

discordance2• 9 months ago

"The recall population includes certain Model Year (“MY”) 2025 Model 3 vehicles manufactured between March 8, 2025, and August 12, 2025, and MY 2026 Model Y vehicles manufactured between March 15, 2025, and August 15, 2025, that are equipped with a battery pack contactor manufactured with InTiCa solenoid."

https://electrek.co/2025/10/22/tesla-recalls-recent-model-3-...

pinkmuffinere• 9 months ago

I don't know much about battery packs -- what's the significance of this particular quote?

Meegul2• 9 months ago

The battery pack contactor is one of the only, if not actually the only, moving pieces in a battery pack. A solenoid connects or disconnects the battery pack from the rest of the car's electronics. In this case, it seems to fail in the open state, meaning the battery was not able to power the car. Either there was simply a bad production batch of these particular solenoids or a change in supplier for this part.

Model Ys still have a separate, standard 12V battery that power many of the car's non-drivetrain related parts. So in this case, the battery pack contactor failing open would cause the car to lose the ability to drive, but the doors/windows/lights/screen would all still likely be working.

quickthrowman• 9 months ago

A contactor is a multi-pole switch that is activated by energizing a control coil or solenoid, basically a relay that can handle more current.

You find them in motor starters, you can use them to switch multiple light circuits with a single switch, among other uses.

The contactor is what connects the battery to the motors to provide them with power. If the contactor is bad, power cannot flow from the batteries to the motors and the car cannot be driven. I believe the rest of the electronics are powered from a 12VDC battery, all of that would still work.

discordance2• 9 months ago

It seemed significant because it tells you which models and years are impacted, what part is the cause and the company that manufactured the part.

daveguy• 9 months ago

Is this the kind of battery power loss that prevents you from opening the doors and can trap you in a burning/sinking Tesla?

azinman2• 9 months ago

There’s a physical mechanical open mechanism for doors.

CaptainOfCoit3• 9 months ago

Curious how it worked, I found https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-A7A60DC...

At the bottom of the rear door pocket, there is a slot in front of the release cover. Slide your finger into the slot and lift to remove the cover. Pull the mechanical release cable forward.

I wonder how people are supposed to be able to find that when in an emergency sitting in the backseat of someone else's car.

pengaru4• 9 months ago

There’s a hidden physical mechanical open mechanism for doors.

FTFY

adrr2• 9 months ago

I don't have them in my back seats. I had to train my kids to use a glass breakage hammer because Tesla didn't bother to put them on my car.

dist-epoch2• 9 months ago

Rescuers are unable to open the door from outside. I guess its a feature (in a Mad Max world).

https://people.com/woman-dies-after-allegedly-being-trapped-...

https://nypost.com/2025/09/19/world-news/tesla-driver-and-tw...

Rygian• 9 months ago

No. It's the other battery.

josephcsible4• 9 months ago

This question is misleading for the same reason "have you stopped beating your wife?" is. Even if a Tesla loses all power, you can still open the doors with a mechanical handle and escape. Tesla's engineers aren't stupid.

dist-epoch2• 9 months ago

As Musk would say - if 10% of your rockets (cars) do not blow up (are not recalled), it means you made them too robust.

engineer_22• 9 months ago

might be a kernel of truth to that

rconti6• 9 months ago

There's a fight club reference in here somewhere....

bouncing_bolete• 9 months ago

Interesting timing on this considering the earnings call coming up

georgeecollins• 9 months ago

Yeah, typically when you have bad news you want to get it all out at once. I know nothing about Tesla.

giancarlostoro• 9 months ago

Considering the battery is such a core component, I don't see why they would waste any time on it once they've realized and narrowed down the issue.

mrguyorama2• 9 months ago

I don't think a defect with 13k cars is a significant event to a stock that currently is valued based on magic and dreams and possibly geopolitics.

blinding-streak• 9 months ago

On the topic of recalls in general. An old buddy of mine in the auto industry believed that legacy automakers would do bogus or superfluous recalls on occasion just to get people back into the dealership. Where sales people could mosey into the service area and talk to the folks with older cars.

No hard evidence for it, but it did make me think. (I don't think this applies to Tesla)

gamblor956• 9 months ago

For comparison, the level of seriousness compared to an ICE vehicle: this would be like if the fuel tank stopped working.

mildconcern• 9 months ago

Who else thought this post referred to border patrol vehicles?

I try to avoid political news but am apparently failing at some level.

birdman3131• 9 months ago

Given that it is a car post Internal Combustion Engine would be my first guess when seeing ICE but I can see where one might think of the other as well.

reaperducer4• 9 months ago

Who else thought this post referred to border patrol vehicles?

There were millions of Americans who were very confused in 2020 when BLM protests popped up in other parts of the country.

"Why do they hate the Bureau of Land Management?"

rconti6• 9 months ago

A more apt comparison would be a fuel pump, since fuel tanks don't really stop working short of springing a leak which brings its own problems.

Fuel pump failure is certainly not an uncommon thing, although in my limited experience, they usually become a bit intermittent and the car sputters for awhile, rather than losing all motive power at once (but that's totally possible too).

I am guessing when drive power is lost on an EV it would just coast (hopefully). Since there's effectively no connected battery pack to regen to, and the electric motors won't physically lock up.

1970-01-01• 9 months ago

Not unprecedented for ICE. Fuel tank straps will fail outright with heavy rust. There are similar recalls:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2018/RCRIT-18V160-2117.pdf

waffletower2• 9 months ago

Why not link an article without a paywall? https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-...

josephcsible4• 9 months ago

Other automakers have recalls all the time too. Why is it that every single Tesla recall becomes national news, but virtually no recalls by other automakers ever do? (I can only think of two exceptions in recent history: Takata airbags and Chevy Bolt batteries.)

reaperducer4• 9 months ago

Why is it that every single Tesla recall becomes national news, but virtually no recalls by other automakers ever do? (I can only think of two exceptions in recent history: Takata airbags and Chevy Bolt batteries.)

Maybe you don't read enough legitimate/mainstream media? I see them all the time.

Just yesterday: Ford, Dodge, Nissan among over 1.1 million vehicles recalled - https://www.usatoday.com/story/cars/recalls/2025/10/20/check...

It doesn't get much more "national" than USA Today.

cowsandmilk• 9 months ago

+1 Toyota Sienna recall earlier this month was national news and was mentioned on my mother in law’s local news broadcast causing her to call us.

Hacker News seems to post Tesla recalls, but national news websites that publish recalls seem to do it for every single recall, not just Tesla.

gruez• 9 months ago

Just yesterday: Ford, Dodge, Nissan among over 1.1 million vehicles recalled - https://www.usatoday.com/story/cars/recalls/2025/10/20/check...

but how notable was it? In other words was it on the front page either online or in print? The nature of publishing nowadays is that virtually unlimited amounts of articles can be published, but unless you're seeking them out you're not going to stumble upon them like this post.

aranw• 9 months ago

I've owned three Audis over the last decade with no recalls

Tesla deliberately pushes boundaries and breaks from tradition. That's admirable, but traditional manufacturers have decades of engineering knowledge behind their approaches for good reasons. Push the envelope enough and you'll have more misses and in Tesla's case more recalls

spullara• 9 months ago

Guess you are constantly dodging them, so lucky.

https://www.kbb.com/audi/recall/

eblume• 9 months ago

A quick search for "Audi recall" shows several recalls this year. Here's the first official link I found: https://www.audiusa.com/en/compliance/takata/

proee• 9 months ago

You are making things up out of thin air. These are recalls from JAN 2024- MAR 2025

  Ford Motor Company, 94 (7%)
  Chrysler (FCA US, LLC), 78 (6%)
  Forest River, Inc., 67 (5%)
  General Motors, LLC, 41 (3%)
  BMW of North America, LLC, 39 (3%)
  Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, 33 (3%)
  Hyundai Motor America, 28 (2%)
  Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC, 26 (2%)
  Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., 25 (2%)
  Daimler Trucks North America, LLC, 24 (2%)
  Honda (American Honda Motor Co.), 24 (2%)
  Kia America, Inc., 24 (2%)
  Jayco, Inc., 22 (2%)
  International Motors, LLC, 21 (2%)
  Nova Bus (US) Inc., 21 (2%)
  Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, 21 (2%)
  Nissan North America, Inc., 20 (2%)
  Tesla, Inc., 20 (2%)
  Mack Trucks, Inc., 17 (1%)
  Winnebago Industries, Inc., 16 (1%)

askafriend• 9 months ago

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, I guess.

The entire car dealership lobby hates Tesla, for example.

ncr100• 9 months ago

Speculating: Perhaps the answer is because Tesla does not respond to Press, much more frequently than other automakers.

- Tesla PR department = { } // the empty set

- CEO drives all external communication (pun intended)

somerandomqaguy• 9 months ago

...... Huh? Kia and Hyundai's recalls for the trailer hitch wiring fire recall made national news. Toyota's recall of the rear view camera issue on the 2025 trucks too.

Granted I'm Canadian so that might make a difference, but Tesla recalls aren't the only one making national new. They just don't typically appear on Hacker News.

root_axis• 9 months ago

virtually no recalls by other automakers ever do

That's wrong. There are regularly national news stories about recalls from other car brands. However, you'd still expect to see more Tesla news on HN because of the intersection with tech and startups.

op00to5• 9 months ago

What about the Hyundai/Kia antitheft recalls? Those dominated the news for /years/.

You’re not actually asking about media fairness. You’re defending Elon Musk under the usual “everyone’s unfair to Elon” routine. Now think about the difference in public visibility between the Ford CEO and the Tesla CEO. Which one’s name alone drives more clicks and engagement?

Musk injects himself into the news constantly. When you build your brand on publicity, you also get the scrutiny that comes with it. No need to play at the victim narrative.

ratelimitsteve• 9 months ago

y'all ever notice that the internet seems to have introduced entire new classes of fallacy, or at least that the structure of debating online tends to surface fallacies that aren't as common in real life? This is one that I call the redditor fallacy and at its base it's the presumption that if one particular group of people isn't currently talking about something in one particular thread that no one anywhere is talking about it and it's a subtype of whataboutism. The truth is that if I google the phrase "automobile recall" I don't see tesla in the first three pages of results but I do see Ford, GM, Nissan, Dodge and Volkswagen.

Larrikin• 9 months ago

It makes the news here because theres a lot of Tesla drivers and more importantly investors on this site.

Theres always someone complaining about or defending negative Tesla news here for the same reason, but less so because of the drivers.

m463• 9 months ago

What I think is more interesting is that when you dig into a lot of "Tesla Recall!" newsitems, the fix is a over-the-air software update.

Tesla Recalls Almost 13,000 EVs over Risk of Battery Power Loss

Related Stories