The National Highway Traffic Administration revealed Tuesday that the U.S. regulatory agency has opened as investigation into 280,000 new Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3 and Model Y vehicles after receiving 12 complaints over loss of steering control and power steering.
Back in June, a driver from Alpharetta, Georgia reported that she was driving her two-week-old Tesla Model Y out of a shopping center when "suddenly steering wheel did not steer. It was hard and saw the alert. Went to very close to opposite side of traffic and some how made it to across the road inside the shopping center."
Another recent complaint from April said a less than 30 days old Tesla Model Y was turned on and the "wheel jerked hard right and made a thud" and the screen warned that “Steering Assist Reduced” and displayed an error code.
The driver told the NHTSA that power steering was disabled and that it felt unsafe to steer and added "Tesla has moved my service visit from May 2 to May 25 due to a backlog of parts. They confirmed this is a recently known issue and noted the steering rack might be replaced entirely."
There is one report of a crash where a driver felt their Model 3’s steering get stuck, causing them to slide off the road and crash into a tree. However, there have been no complaints of injuries.
A driver in Hawaii reported a week after purchasing a Tesla that the steering wheel began locking up randomly and said it "occurred six times on different dates before we were able to get it to the Tesla service department." The driver said it "currently remains at Tesla for the next 3 weeks while we await a new steering rack/motor."
This latest probe is at least the fifth into Tesla vehicles within the last three years. Investigators are examining incidents involving Teslas equipped with the Autopilot partially automated driving system, which have crashed into parked emergency vehicles, as well as investigating suspension failures, detached steering wheels, and improperly connected front seat belts.
The initial probe from the NHTSA determines whether the issue poses an unreasonable safety risk. If it does, the NHTSA upgrades the probe to an engineering analysis, which could then result in a recall.
Shares of TSLA are down 1.72% in mid-day trading on Tuesday.