Enlarge / Even Tesla says you should keep your hands on the steering wheel, but it helps if that wheel is actually connected to the steering column. (credit: Tesla)

Tesla has yet another federal headache to contend with. On March 4, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation opened a preliminary investigation after two reports of Tesla Model Y steering wheels detaching in drivers' hands while driving.

NHTSA's ODI says that in both cases, the model year 2023 Model Ys each required repairs on the production line that involved removing their steering wheels. The wheels were refitted but were only held in place by friction—Tesla workers never replaced the retaining bolt that fixes the steering wheel to the steering column. In 2018, Ford had to recall more than 1.3 million vehicles after an incorrectly sized bolt resulted in a similar problem.

The ODI document states that "sudden separation occurred when the force exerted on the steering wheel overcame the resistance of the friction fit while the vehicles were in motion" and that both incidents occurred while the electric vehicles still had low mileage.

Enlarge / If you own a Tesla with FSD Beta, there's a recall in your future. (credit: Tesla)

On Thursday Tesla had to issue a recall for nearly 363,000 of its electric vehicles. At issue is the company's highly controversial "Full Self Driving" Beta, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes is dangerous.

NHTSA has four principal complaints with the driver-assistance system:

The FSD Beta system may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.

Additionally, NHTSA says that "the system may respond insufficiently to changes in posted speed limits or not adequately account for the driver's adjustment of the vehicle's speed to exceed posted speed limits."

Enlarge / Early VW ID.4s will need to visit a dealership for a software update. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Volkswagen is the latest OEM to issue a recall for some of its electric vehicles. This time the problem afflicts the MY2021 ID.4, VW's EV crossover. The problem concerns the battery management control module, as well as the pulse inverter control module. This version of the battery management control unit software can be too sensitive and reset itself in some circumstances, and the pulse inverter control module can, under rare conditions, deactivate if there's a software failure.

VW first had an inkling there was a problem in July 2021 when reports started coming in of potential problems with the high-voltage battery management software. By September 2021, VW had concluded there was no unreasonable risk to drivers but continued studying the problem. By January 2022, VW's supplier told it that the pulse inverter software had problems, too.

Last summer VW went through feedback questionnaires from ID.4 owners and found that "some reports from the US market indicated that the battery management software issue could have led to stalling allegations."

Enlarge / That's as close as you should park your Subaru Ascent to the garage for now, Subaru says. (credit: Subaru)

This week, Subaru announced a recall for more than 271,000 Ascent SUVs due to a potential fire risk. Although owners won't be formally notified until early February, Subaru says that model year 2019–2022 Ascent SUVs should not be parked in garages or car ports or under other structures. Subaru also says owners should not leave their Ascent running unattended, and if they notice or smell smoke coming from the dash or driver's footwell, they should immediately turn the car off and not attempt to restart it.

The problem is an improperly grounded terminal for the cars' positive temperature coefficient heater, a heat source for the climate system that does not rely on engine heat. In January 2020, Subaru changed part of the Ascent's assembly process, switching to air tools on the part of the production line that fastens the ground terminal.

If the bolt isn't properly fastened and the contact area is too small, resistance can build up to the point where the ground terminal gets hot enough to melt, along with anything in close proximity. That's obviously not something you want to happen while you're driving a car.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | rolfo)

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday recommended that all new vehicles be equipped with alcohol detection systems that can stop people from driving when drunk.

The NTSB can't issue such a regulation on its own but urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to do so. The NTSB said it "is recommending measures leveraging new in-vehicle technologies that can limit or prohibit impaired drivers from operating their vehicles as well as technologies to prevent speeding."

If adopted, this would require "passive vehicle-integrated alcohol impairment detection systems, advanced driver monitoring systems or a combination of the two that would be capable of preventing or limiting vehicle operation if it detects driver impairment by alcohol," the NTSB said. The agency urged the NHTSA to "require all new vehicles to be equipped with such systems."

Enlarge / Elon Musk said in June that without autonomous driving technology, Tesla is "worth basically nothing."

Tesla went into the weekend with a fresh pair of headaches. On Friday, the Associated Press reported that the federal government is investigating whether or not the company's Autopilot system can safely recognize motorcyclists after a pair of fatal crashes in July. And the Los Angeles Times reported that California is unhappy with the way the automaker has advertised its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving driver assist technologies.

Can Autopilot see motorbikes at night?

The first fatal crash occurred in the early hours of July 7 in Riverside, California, when a Tesla Model Y on State Route 91 hit a motorcycle from behind, killing its rider. The second fatal motorcycle crash occurred on July 24, again at night, this time on I-15 outside Draper, Utah. In that case, a Tesla Model 3 was driving behind a motorcycle and hit it, killing the rider.

The AP reports that the California Highway Patrol is still investigating whether Autopilot was active in the first crash, but the driver in Utah admitted he was using the hands-free driver assist at the time of his accident.

Enlarge / Tesla is facing multiple federal investigations into the safety of its automated and partially automated driving systems. New data from NHTSA shows the automaker accounted for three quarters of all crashes involving advanced driver assists in the past year. (credit: Tesla)

On Wednesday morning, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released data on the safety, or lack thereof, of advanced driver assistance systems. Since June 2021, automakers have been required to inform NHTSA if any of their vehicles crash while using partially automated driving systems, also known as SAE level 2 systems.

As many suspected, Tesla's Autopilot system accounted for the majority of crashes since the reporting period began. In fact, Teslas represented three-quarters of all ADAS crashes—273 out of 367 crashes reported between July 2021 and May 15, 2022. The news provides yet more data underminingTesla's safety claims about its Autopilot system.

In the past, Tesla and even NHTSA have claimed that Autopilot reduced crash rates by 40 percent. However, as we reported in 2018 , that claim fell apart once a consulting company called Quality Control Systems got its hands on the data.