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In the court of public opinion, more charges are coming against America’s favorite electric vehicle manufacturer. Reuters is reporting that two US senators, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, are directly telling Elon Musk that they want Tesla to recall components with frequent failures it has been blaming on customers and user error. The letters come in response to a Reuters investigation that found the company knew the issues were because of manufacturing and engineering problems.
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One Tesla customer told Reuters that the suspension on his brand-new Model Y, with just 115 miles on the odometer, fell apart as he rounded a corner. He also said Tesla refused to pay the $14,000 repair bill.
“We are disturbed that you would blame your customers for these failures,” the Blumenthal and Markey letter reportedly reads. “It is unacceptable that Tesla would not only attempt to shift the responsibility for the substandard quality of its vehicles to the people purchasing them, but also make that same flawed argument to” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Tesla, which sells more than half of all electric vehicles in the US according to Kelly Blue Book, declined to comment to Reuters during the investigation and did not immediately respond to Quartz’s request for a comment.
🍒 A recalled cherry on top
Earlier this month, Tesla had to issue the largest US vehicle recall of the year, affecting nearly every car it has ever put on American roads, because the NHTSA deemed that Tesla’s autopilot was too lenient towardsdrivers who took their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road.
Blumenthal and Markey were upset over that issue as well, writing in a previous letter to the Federal Trade Commission that “Tesla and Mr. Musk’s repeated overstatements of their vehicle’s capabilities—despite clear and frequent warnings—demonstrate a deeply concerning disregard for the safety of those on the road and require real accountability.”
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