Tesla and others begin record vehicle recall in China

FILE - A Tesla logo is shown on Feb. 27, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. A Tesla apparently operating on one of the company's automated driving systems crashed into a parked police vehicle Thursday, June 13, 2024, near Los Angeles, narrowly missing an officer who was managing traffic at another crash. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

Tesla and 10 other automakers launched software updates on Friday and said they would recall nearly 4.3 million vehicles over concerns it may be difficult to open doors in an emergency, in China’s largest automotive recall to date.

Beijing has this year increased oversight of the EV industry and introduced tougher safety requirements, as automakers, locked in a fierce price war, roll out technologies in the world’s largest vehicle market.

It has also said it will ban concealed door handles from 2027, making it the first country to phase out a design popularized by Tesla and widely adopted by domestic Chinese EV makers.

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Most of the actions, classified as product recalls under Chinese regulations, address concerns that emergency mechanical door release handles may be difficult to locate or operate during emergencies.

Warning labels and software fixes

Nine of the 11 automakers, including Tesla and Xiaomi, will install warning labels free of charge to identify the handles, while most will also deploy over-the-air, or remote, software updates.

Tesla’s recall is the largest. It concerns 2.98 million imported and China-made Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X vehicles to be recalled from September 25, the company told the State Administration for Market Regulation, according to the regulator’s statement.

The U.S. automaker said mechanical emergency door-release handles may be difficult to identify following a severe collision and electrical system failure, potentially hindering occupants’ escape or rescuers’ access, according to the statement.

Tesla’s remedy includes warning labels and an update delivered remotely that automatically lowers vehicle windows after a collision.

Apart from Tesla and Xiaomi, Leapmotor, Xpeng and Geely Holding, also announced their largest recalls on record, according to their filings to SAMR.

Xiaomi will recall about 390,000 vehicles, Leapmotor about 371,000 and Xpeng about 264,000.

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The other companies that filed to the regulator are undertaking much smaller recalls.

Tesla and Xpeng did not immediately reply to a request for comment, while Geely declined to comment. Xiaomi said it does not have additional information beyond the regulatory notice.

Leapmotor said it was committed to safety. It said the upgrade involved only a warning label and upgrading the power-window control software, but that it was “managing and filing it in accordance with the recall process out of a sense of responsibility to our users.”

A design feature that allows doors to be opened using a key fob, smartphone or a press-operated mechanism, has attracted regulatory scrutiny in China and the United States over concerns that the handles may be difficult to access during emergencies.

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Reporting by Qiaoyi Li and Ju-min Park; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Joe Bavier, and Barbara Lewis