Economy
In French-speaking Switzerland as elsewhere, many Model S and Model X owners see their on-board computer break down, making the car unfit to drive.
Nearly 200,000 vehicles would be affected (photo illustration).
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Antoine * is very upset. The on-board computer of his Tesla had many failures, until the day when it permanently stopped working. And if, on most cars, this does not interfere with driving, his electric vehicle has become unusable. “In addition to the loss of the reversing radar or the GPS, on a Tesla, we also lose the indicators, the airbag or the indications for recharging the car”, deplores the Neuchâtelois. He therefore left his vehicle at the nearest Tesla garage.
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The estimate he was presented with amounted to 3300 francs for a second-hand computer. But, beyond the amount, what ulcerated Antoine is that he was reinstalled the same type of central unit, which regularly breaks down. Moreover, the origin of the bug is known. It comes from the Nvidia Tegra 3 chip which suffers from premature wear. “In other words, in a few years, I will have to pay 3000 bales again, when there are new generation CPUs that do not fail. Worse, it is possible to change the chip only. But only unauthorized mechanics do it and, in this case, Tesla detects the manipulation and will refuse you any technical assistance in the future, ”explains Antoine.
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Investigation opened in the USA
Roger *, a Valaisan, nevertheless opted for the latter solution. And the repair cost him only around 500 francs. “The advantage is that the chip I was installed lasts twice as long as Tesla’s. And it was done very quickly. I got my car back in less than a week, when Tesla had told me waiting times of over a month. ” And Nicolas, a Vaudois, to confirm: “For my part, I did not have the leisure to wait for my computer screen to go black. My central unit stuck my suspensions in an unlikely position and I had no choice but to have it fixed. But I had to wait almost two months. Fortunately, my Tesla is still under warranty, it cost me nothing. But, the next time my computer crashes, I know what to expect. ”
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In addition to these three Romands, many other users have encountered the same problem. In the USA, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), active in road safety, has decided to open an investigation against Tesla. This public agency points out that the fault potentially concerns 159,000 vehicles: the Tesla Model S from 2012 to 2018, as well as the Model X from before 2018.
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According to various specialized media, the firm refuses, however, to recognize that it is a manufacturing defect, so as not to have to assume massive recalls or, at least, to have to offer repair to the owners. Contacted several times, the Tesla Europe press service never answered our questions.
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A data protection breach
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Several Tesla on-board computers, broken down and replaced, ended up for sale on online platforms. A hacker obtained several of them, and he discovered that the memory had not been erased. So he had access to a lot of information about the previous owners, including names and phone numbers, as well as various app passwords.
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