Auto safety regulators urge Tesla to recall around 158,000 vehicles

Federal regulators are asking Tesla Inc. to recall around 158,000 vehicles for safety reasons, which would be one of the electric vehicle maker’s biggest safety measures.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked Tesla in a Jan. 13 letter to recall Model S luxury sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles. NHTSA requested the recall because car touch screens can fail afterwards. few years of use, affecting safety functions such as defogger and rear view cameras.

Some auto safety recalls affect millions of vehicles. While small in historical numbers, the action would represent a relatively large callback for Tesla, which has far fewer cars on the road than some rivals. The Silicon Valley automaker delivered nearly 500,000 vehicles worldwide last year, including about 205,600 to the United States, according to market research firm Motor Intelligence. Tesla does not break down its sales by region.

Tesla does not have to recall the vehicles, although NHTSA said in the letter that if the automaker does not take action, it must provide an explanation for its decision. The agency can then escalate the matter to a public hearing and possibly seek to force a recall in court.

Sam Abuelsamid, analyst at Guidehouse Insights, said the recall request was large and could cost between $ 300 million and $ 500 million.