Tesla Inc has decided to remove one of the two electronic controls from the steering rack of some made in China Model 3 and Model Y auto to hit fourth quarter sales targets while dealing with global chip shortage, CNBC reported.
The electric carmaker did not disclose the deletion, which affected tens of thousands of vehicles being shipped to customers in China, AustraliaThe UK, Germany and other parts of Europe, the report said, citing two employees and one internal correspondence.
Tesla decided not to notify customers because this part is considered redundant and unnecessary for the level 2 Driver-assistance features, the report said, also did not add that it was unclear if Tesla would make similar changes to cars built or shipped to the United States. Other automakers like Ford and GM left components out of their car in the process lack of chipsbut did it publicly.
Removing this part means Tesla can’t turn all of its existing cars into “tier 3”. unmanned vehicle just by pushing out the software, as the CEO Elon Musk as promised. Owners who want that functionality will have to install the missing piece.
Tesla made the decision while under pressure to hit its fourth-quarter sales target, according to two employees and internal CNBC correspondence.
Tesla has proven better than most automakers at managing supply chain issues by using less scarce chips and rapidly rewriting software.
It expects the chip shortage to last this year before easing next year. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk told an earnings call last month the shortage was not a long-term problem, with factories ramping up capacity and carmakers committing crimes panic buying. slow supply chain.
CNBC quoted Richard Wallace of HWA Analytics as to whether removing an electronic control unit from the power steering system could pose a safety risk.
“If something like a chip or a ECU does not provide additional functionality, if it is really redundant you can turn it off or leave it out. With chips and software, there’s a bit of room. I said.
And IHS Markit Principal Analyst Phil Amsrud said: “I can’t think of a case where an automaker would say ‘You know what? We’ll take a component out of that module, even though it’s there for a good reason, and we hope nothing happens. ‘ Moving from dual-chip to single-chip variants in vehicles could make a system simpler and make it better in some cases. But they really need to authenticate a lot. “
