Tesla is recalling nearly 1.1 million US vehicles to update software for reversing windows

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Tesla ( TSLA.O ) is recalling nearly 1.1 million U.S. vehicles because its automatic window reversing system may not respond properly after detecting an obstacle, increasing the risk of injury.

The electric vehicle maker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it would perform an over-the-air software update of the automatic window reversing system. The recall covers some 2017-2022 Model 3, 2020-2021 Model Y, and 2021-2022 Model S and Model X vehicles.

Tesla said it was not aware of any warranty claims, field reports, crashes, injuries or deaths related to the recall.

NHTSA said a closing window without the proper automatic reversing system can exert excessive force, pinching a driver or passenger before it retracts, increasing the risk of injury.

NHTSA said the vehicles failed to meet the requirements of a federal motor vehicle safety standard for power windows.

Tesla said that during product testing in August, employees identified the window’s automatic reversing system performance that had “larger than expected variations in response to pinch detection.”

After extensive additional testing, Tesla determined that the vehicles’ pinch detection and retraction performance in the test results did not meet the requirements for automatic reversing systems.

Tesla said that starting Sept. 13, production and pre-delivery vehicles received a software update that makes power windows compliant.

The software update “improves the calibration of the vehicle’s automatic window reversing system behavior,” Tesla said.

Tesla shares fell 3.5% in trading on Thursday afternoon.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter on Thursday criticized the description of the recall as a recall.

“The terminology is outdated and inaccurate. This is a small over-the-air software update. As far as we know, there have been no injuries,” he said.

Both NHTSA and Tesla referred to the campaign as a recall in documents released Thursday.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Potter and Mark Porter

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