Tesla Exec Bemoans Cost Of Sending Letter To Owners Affected By EV Giant's Recent Recall Of Nearly 700,000 Vehicles

Tesla Inc. TSLA executive Sendil Palani on Sunday bemoaned the cost of sending letters to customers whose vehicles were affected by the recent recall issued by the company.

What Happened: Palani termed the mandate of sending letters to affected owners as a waste of time and money.

“The OEM has to pay for printing, postage (now up to $0.73 per letter), and administration,” Palani, Vice President of Finance at Tesla, said.

U.S. auto safety regulator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday that Tesla is recalling 694,304 Cybertruck, Model 3, and Model Y vehicles citing concerns about the tire pressure monitoring system warning lights. Tesla released an over-the-air software update aimed at fixing the issue.

As per Palani’s estimate, posting the letters notifying customers of the recent recall alone could cost Tesla up to $506,000.

Palani also said on Sunday that in the case of Tesla’s recalls, “very often” the issue has been resolved before vehicle owners receive the mail as many of the issues are fixed via over-the-air software updates.

In July, Tesla recalled over 1.8 million vehicles over concerns that an unlatched hood can fully open when driving, obstructing the driver's view and increasing the risks of a crash. The company, then too, fixed the issue via an over-the-air update.

Wastes time and money too.

The OEM has to pay for printing, postage (now up to $0.73 per letter), and administration.

In Tesla's case, the issue has very often been resolved prior to mail delivery.

— Sendil Palani (@sendilpalani) December 22, 2024

Why It Matters: Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself called upon the NHTSA to stop the requirement of mailing physical letters to vehicle owners for recalls fixed via an over-the-air (OTA) update.

“This needs to stop,” Musk wrote on X.

Musk and several other Tesla executives have previously even condemned the use of the word “recall” for vehicle issues that are fixed via an over-the-air (OTA) software update.

“This ‘recall’ literally just changes a few pixels on the screen with an over-the-air update. By that anachronistic standard, phones are being "recalled" every few weeks,” Musk said in February after the company issued a “recall” for about 2.2 million vehicles due to concerns about a smaller font size for warning lights compromising the visibility of crucial safety information.

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