Though Tesla had a strong second quarter, delivering a record 466,140 cars and beating Wall Street expectations with earnings per share of $.91, the EV leader is starting to become bogged down in probes and investigations.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) paved the road toward yet another investigation into the company Aug. 1, when it opened a preliminary investigation into the company's Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. The NHTSA said it opened the probe in response to a dozen complaints of reported loss of steering control.
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One driver reported that their two-week-old Model Y nearly went into the "opposite side of traffic" when the steering wheel suddenly "did not steer."
Another, operating a 2023 Model 3, said that the "car steering felt stuck and slid off the road which resulted in crashing into a tree."
Another driver reported that a brand new Model Y randomly disabled power steering after being turned on in April. They said that "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."
The NHTSA can't demand a recall until it upgrades the probe to a full engineering analysis.
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(TSLA) -) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The NHTSA has also been conducting a years-long probe into Tesla over Autopilot and Full Self-Driving safety concerns. And last week, a CNBC report found that the California attorney general has opened an investigation into the EV company for similar reasons.
A Reuters investigation revealed last week that Tesla has been exaggerating the distances its EVs can cover, and further, that the company created a "Diversion Team" whose job was to cancel maintenance appointments over range concerns.
Tesla's stock was down around 1.5% Tuesday morning.
