Tesla in hot water over heat pump

The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into the heating system of Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

It was prompted to do so after Canadian automotive safety regulator Transport Canada reported that it had received numerous customer complaints about the heat pump’s performance during cold weather.

Concerns have been raised that a poor system performance or malfunctions could become a safety issue as they “may affect windshield defogging/defrosting and therefore driver visibility”.

According to specialist publication Drive Tesla Canada, customers are reporting that the heat pumps are failing in extreme cold temperatures.

Early last year, Tesla began replacing faulty sensors in heat pumps in some 2020-2021 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to address the issue but the Drive Tesla Canada report said heating problems had continued to occur.

Both Transport Canada and NHTSA say they have contacted Tesla.

NHTSA says it “is continuing to gather information, discuss the issue with Tesla and evaluate potential safety concerns”, while Transport Canada seems to take a swipe at Tesla for not issuing a safety recall over the matter.