NHTSA Complaint #11302674 — 2015 TESLA MODEL S

THE MAIN INSTRUMENT PANEL (CALL THE MEDIA CONTROL UNIT OR "MCU") EVENTUALLY FAILS IN ALL OLDER TESLAS (PRE 2018) DUE TO A DEFECT IN THE DESIGN OF MCU AND OVERUSE BY EXCESSIVE WRITING OF DATA TO THE MEMORY WITH FIRMWARE UPDATES AS WELL AS LOGGING FOR TESLA'S OWN PURPOSES. THE CONSUMER HAS NO ABILITY TO TURN OFF UPDATES OR LOGGING WHICH MEANS THAT TESLA IS CAUSING THE FAILURES WITH ITS OWN ACTIONS. THE MCU HAS BEEN SHOWN TO FAIL WITHIN APPROXIMATELY 4-5 YEARS (OR RIGHT AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRES). THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE AS ONCE THE MCU FAILS, MANY FUNCTIONS OF THE CAR FAIL. THIS INCLUDES THE BACKUP CAMERA, THE AUDIO INDICATORS FOR TURN SIGNALS AND OTHER ALERTS, CLIMATE CONTROL, AS WELL AS THE SAFETY MONITORS ASSOCIATED WITH "AUTO-PILOT" (E.G. ALL RESTRICTIONS ARE REMOVED). TESLA'S POSITION IS THAT THE CONSUMER MUST PAY TO REPLACE THE MCU ONCE IT FAILS IF THE CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY. THEY HAVE UPGRADED THE MCU DESIGN AND LOGGING PROCESS FOR NEWER TESLAS (POST 2018) BUT ALL CARS FROM 2012 TO 2018 ARE AFFECTED BY THE ORIGINAL DEFECTIVE DESIGN AND PROCESS. HENCE, THIS PETITION IS TO REQUIRE TESLA TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEFECT IN THE ORIGINAL MCU AND REPLACE VIA RECALL, AND/OR COMPENSATE CUSTOMERS WHO WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR REPLACEMENT.