Tesla will replace the Autopilot cameras in the front fenders of some its electric vehicles for free, according to CNBC. While Tesla has yet to issue a recall, the news organization has seen internal documents distributed to authorized service providers in late November, asking them to replace faulty repeater cameras at no cost to owners. Apparently, the cameras on some Model S, X and 3 vehicles manufactured by the company at its Fremont, California plant have faulty printed circuit boards.
Those cameras capture the car’s blind spots, and Autopilot wouldn’t work without them. If they’re not working as intended, drivers typically only see a block box on their main display and may get alerts that their Autopilot has limited function. CNBC says Tesla may have to replace cameras for at least several hundred vehicles as a result of the faulty PCBs it used.
A Tesla sales manager told the publication that internal service notices are sometimes followed by voluntary recalls, but the automaker has yet to issue a statement. Tesla recalled vehicles several times in the past over various issues. In October, it recalled nearly 3,000 Model 3 and Y vehicles, because their front suspension lateral link fasteners may loosen. The company also recalled 11,704 Tesla EVs from 2017 and later in November after they became prone to false-positive braking following a buggy Full Self-Driving beta update.
