On June 27, U.S. safety authorities announced the closure of an engineering analysis into reports that some Tesla vehicles experienced loss of power steering. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the inquiry covered about 376,241 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y cars from the 2023 model year.
NHTSA first initiated a preliminary evaluation in July 2023 following owner reports alleging either an inability to turn the steering wheel or a marked rise in the effort required to do so. The agency elevated that review to an engineering analysis in early 2024 to probe the alleged defect in greater depth.
In early 2025, Tesla issued a recall affecting roughly 376,000 vehicles in the United States. The recall addressed a failure of the power steering assist feature that could increase steering effort, particularly at low speeds, and thereby raise the risk of a crash. At the time Tesla said the recall was not prompted by NHTSA’s open investigation.
The recall explained that Tesla had deployed an over-the-air software update intended to prevent overvoltage breakdown and to stop overstress of motor-drive components on a printed circuit board. According to the recall description, those conditions had been associated with the increase in steering effort reported by some owners.
Following Tesla’s recall and the related software remedy, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation concluded its engineering analysis and closed the probe. The agency did not add further public details in the closure announcement beyond the link between the automaker’s corrective action and the agency’s decision to end the formal engineering review.
The sequence of events for the covered vehicles therefore spans an initial agency review beginning in mid-2023, an upgrade to engineering analysis in early 2024, and a manufacturer recall with an over-the-air software mitigation implemented in early 2025. NHTSA’s closure reflects that action by the company as the basis for ending its engineering-level inquiry.
Contextual note - The information in this report is limited to NHTSA’s public statements about the investigation, the number and model years of vehicles involved, and Tesla’s recall and software update as described by the company.