Tesla’s week gets worse: Fines, safety investigation, and massive recall
Enlarge / More than 2,000 Tesla model-year 2023 Model Y and Model 3s have suffered steering failure, according to a new NHTSA safety defect investigation. (credit: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images)
It's been a rough week for Tesla. On Tuesday, a court in Delaware voided a massive $55.8 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk. Then, news emerged that Tesla was being sued by 25 different counties in California for years of dumping toxic waste. That was followed by a recall affecting 2.2 million Teslas. Now, Ars has learned that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation is investigating the company after 2,388 complaints of steering failure affecting the model-year 2023 Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover.
Paint, brake fluid, used batteries, antifreeze, dieselTesla has repeatedly run afoul of laws designed to protect the environment from industrial waste. In 2019, author Edward Niedermeyer cataloged the troubles the company ran into with air pollution from its paint shop in Fremont, California, some of which occurred when the automaker took to painting its cars in a temporary tent-like marquee.
In 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency fined Tesla $275,000 for violating the Clean Air Act, which followed a $31,000 penalty Tesla paid to the EPA in 2019. But EPA data shows that Tesla continued to violate the Clean Air Act in 2023.