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Tesla recalls 53,000 cars over brake issue
- smaili 9y agoDetails surrounding the issue in question: In a statement the firm said the electric parking brakes installed on Model S and Model X "may contain a small gear that could have been manufactured improperly by our third-party supplier". If the gear were to break, the parking brake would continue to keep the car from moving, but the parking brake would be stuck in place, it added.
- spyspy 9y agoSo this is a matter of brakes being unable to be _disengaged_ from standing rather than engaged at speed?
- srwx 9y agoYup, and specifically the _parking_ brake not the normal brakes used when driving.
- johncolanduoni 9y agoBut now all the people using their parking brake while moving will be performing a possibly unsafe action!
- douche 9y agoThe thing I haven't figured out yet is whether this is the brake engaged when you shift an automatic transmission into park, or if it is the emergency brake. If the latter, I'm not sure what the big deal is, since you should almost never use the e-brake.
- diggernet 9y agoIt's the parking brake, not the transmission in park. Though commonly called an e-brake, the parking brake is actually intended to be used when parking, especially when parking on a hill. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_brake https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_brake
- douche 9y agoAh, I see. I was always taught not to use the parking brake. If not used regularly, it has a tendency to seize up, particularly in cold conditions. On all but the steepest slopes, park in an automatic is sufficient. With a manual transmission, I'd either put it in gear in 1st or reverse, depending on the orientation.
- johncolanduoni 9y agoIIRC Teslas only have a simple single gear transmission, so I suspect the parking brake is mechanically more similar to the e-brake on a car with an automatic transmission.
- kirillzubovsky 9y agoA very sensational title. One of their suppliers F'ed up, and now Tesla needs to check and replace a small part in some of their cars. All that's required is a visit to a service centre. Doesn't seem like a big deal.
- _Codemonkeyism 9y agoThis can be said about any problem in any car, "one of their suppliers f'ed up" because most things in a car are manufactured by suppliers today. Car manufacturers only assemble sub systems from 3rd parties. How comes if Ford f'ed up, it's Ford. If Toyota f'ed up, it's Toyota. If Tesla f'ed up (doors, brakes) it's a supplier?
- notatoad 9y agoFord and Toyota have recalls on this scale and of this severity every couple months, and nobody notices. Tesla deserves a defence here because if it were any other automaker, the story wouldn't be "ford f'ed up", it wouldn't be news at all. As a fun example, my ford was recalled last year because the windshield wipers might be flammable. Did you read about that in the news?
- jstandard 9y agoTesla doesn't have anywhere near the scale, history or number of product lines to make this a valid comparison. People have been more tolerant of Tesla issues because of attachment to the mission/Elon and their role as early adopters. Now as Tesla moves toward the mainstream greater scrutiny, such as recall notices, should be given to them.
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- JumpCrisscross 9y agoIf the issue were the brakes not engaging, sure, I'd blame Tesla. When the issue is "the parking brake may not disengage and then you'll have to call AAA and your ice cream will melt," I'm okay with blaming the supplier.
- Lazare 9y agoI...okay, that headline is just bad. Core issue: "A small gear may be defective in some cars; you should come into the service center and get it checked. If it breaks, you may be unable to disengage the parking brake." Headline: "Massive recall over brake issue!" It's not technically wrong. But it misleads more than it informs.
- badestrand 9y agoI don't think you could write the headline any less sensational and more informative. Tesla has to repair 53.000 cars, this is in itself newsworthy as it becomes clear that they are struggling with the same issues as any other car manufacturer and it should be a challenge to their operational logistics.
- qq66 9y agoSure you could, just add "parking" before "brake." A brake issue is serious when it prevents a car from stopping -- not so much when it keeps a car stopped.
- function_seven 9y agoUntil I read the parent comment, I was thinking that the issue was with cars being unable to stop. The omission of “parking” from the headline is not an accident.
- Gustomaximus 9y ago"Tesla Recommends Parking Break Update"
- caf 9y agoI would hope that the BBC had better spelling than that!
- Gustomaximus 9y agoHaha yes... I'll leave editing for others amusement.
- nerdface 9y ago> The electric car maker said about 2% of the 53,000 vehicles built from February to October 2016 were affected, but all of those cars are being recalled That's 1,060 cars altogether are affected.
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- btian 9y agoThat's misleading. All 53,000 vehicles need to be inspected, but Tesla expects ~1000 vehicles to have problem. Source: I received recall notice.
- usrusr 9y agoThey know the size of the affected batch (translated: their supplier knows), but have to recall nearly a year of production because they have absolutely no idea which cars the parts ended up in? Sound kind of disorganized, good luck at scaling.
- Grue3 9y agoThat's more than they produce in a year, right?