US safety agency ends power steering probe into 376,000 Tesla EVs

WASHINGTON: US safety regulators said on Saturday they had closed their probe into Tesla vehicles over power steering loss in view of a company recall which was carried out last year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the investigation, which had the status of an engineering analysis, covered about 376,241 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from the 2023 model year.

NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation in July 2023 into loss of steering control reports in Tesla Model 3 and Y vehicles after some owners reported an inability to turn the steering wheel or an increase in required effort.

In early 2024, the probe was upgraded to an engineering analysis to further investigate the alleged defect.

Tesla recalled 376,000 of its vehicles in the US in early 2025, due to a failure of the power steering assist feature that could make the vehicles harder to steer, particularly at low speeds, raising the risk of a crash.

However, it said the recall was not in response to NHTSA’s investigation, which remained open at the time.

The recall said that Tesla had released an over-the-air software update designed to prevent overvoltage breakdown and overstress of motor drive components on the printed circuit board, which had caused an increase in steering effort.

In view of Tesla’s recall, the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation said it was closing its engineering analysis.