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Tesla to roll out software update to fix windshield defrosting issue on 26k vehicles

(Credit: Jerry Rig Everything)

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Tesla is rolling out an over-the-air software update that would allow the company to address a windshield defrosting issue present in vehicles that are equipped with a heat pump. A total of 26,681 vehicles are affected by the issue, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Safety Recall Report. 

Vehicles that are part of the “recall” include 2021-2022 Tesla Model S, 2020-2022 Tesla Model Y, 2021-2022 Tesla Model 3, and 2021-2022 Tesla Model X. The US regulator noted in its Safety Recall Report that a software error in the affected vehicles may cause a valve at the cars’ heat pumps to open unintentionally, resulting in refrigerant being trapped inside the evaporator. This could adversely affect a vehicle’s defrosting performance. 

 

While the issue is quite notable, Tesla notes that it is not aware of any crashes, injuries, or fatalities related to the affected vehicles’ heat pump issue. 

A chronology of the heat pump issue was outlined in the NHTSA’s Safety Recall Report. As per the document, Tesla began rolling out firmware release 2021.44 and subsequent releases through firmware release 2021.44.30.6 to affected vehicles on or about December 10, 2021. Later that month, the company started receiving complaints from customers about the loss of heating performance in extreme weather conditions. 

An investigation to find the root cause of the issue was commenced then. By January 11, 2022, it was determined that the lack of software command to close the Electronic Expansion Valve (EXV) after communication interruptions in firmware release 2021.44 through 2021.44.30.6 was a potential cause of the problem. Software update 2021.44.30.7 and later releases, which reintroduced a software command to close the EXV, was rolled out on January 15, 2022, as a precautionary measure. 

Tesla Model 3, Model Y HVAC investigation in Canada still ongoing after 171 consumer complaints

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Following discussions with the NHTSA’s Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance and Transport Canada about consumer complaints, Tesla conducted tests to assess the compliance of new vehicles delivered with the software command found in firmware release 2021.44 through 2021.44.30.6. Unfortunately, the results of these tests revealed that new vehicles delivered with firmware release 2021.44 through 2021.44.30.6 may still present issues in worst-case scenarios.

After confirming the root cause of the issue, a recall determination was made for the affected vehicles on January 26, 2022, the final day of the compliance tests. The affected vehicle population for the recall was then expanded out of an abundance of caution on February 7, 2022, to incorporate vehicles that are currently running firmware release 2021.44 through 2021.44.30.6, but are yet to install firmware release 2021.44.30.7 or later. 

The remedy for the issue was outlined in the NHTSA’s Safety Recall Notice. As per the document, the fix for the issue would be rolled out through firmware release 2021.44.30.7. The update, similar to Tesla’s other key patches for its vehicles, would be released over-the-air and completely free of charge. 

“Firmware release 2021.44.30.7 and later releases remedy the condition by reintroducing a software command to close the EXV, thereby preventing refrigerant from entering the evaporator. No further action is necessary from owners whose vehicles are equipped with firmware release 2021.44.30.7 or a later release. 

“Tesla does not plan to include a statement in the Part 577 owner notification about reimbursement for pre-notice repairs to owners since all of the affected vehicles remain covered under the new vehicle warranty, and owners will receive the remedy free of charge with an OTA firmware release.”

The NHTSA’s Safety Recall Report for Tesla’s heat pump issue can be viewed below. 

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RCLRPT-22V050-2023 by Simon Alvarez on Scribd

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

The Boring Company’s latest Tesla tunnel truck mod “fits like a glove”

The Boring Company has modified a Tesla powered tunnel truck to carry freight containers underground.

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The Boring Company has found a second job for the Tesla hardware it already runs underground. In a post on X, Elon Musk’s tunneling company showed its latest Prufrock Liner Truck modified to carry a standard 20 foot shipping container. “Using TBC tunnels to transport freight,” the company wrote. “The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20′ shipping container. Fits like a glove!”

The photo shows a red container sitting on a long, low white chassis parked outside, with drive hardware visible at one end. The Boring Company did not say where or when freight hauling would start, which customers it has in mind, or how many trucks it is converting.

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Until now, the liner trucks have hauled concrete. Teslarati reported in August on Liner Truck 3, which uses Model 3 battery packs and drive units to move more than 22,000 pounds of precast tunnel segments to the boring machine. It has 28 miles of range, tops out at 12 mph, and is piloted remotely from the company’s operations center in Texas. The freight version appears to be the same platform with a different bed, and The Boring Company has not said whether it will also be remotely piloted.

Freight has been on the company’s menu for years. When TBC updated its product lineup in 2021, its freight tunnel was described as sized to fit a standard shipping container, “barely.” The company later used the idea at Tesla’s own factory, where Prufrock 3 dug a tunnel to Giga Texas that now moves finished Cybertrucks away from the production line.

The Boring Company closed a $3 billion Series D in September at a $23 billion valuation, and Teslarati has covered how that money is tied to a UAE tunneling push and a faster Nashville build. In Nashville, Prufrock MB1 and MB2 are mining at the same time, and a third machine is expected to launch in late October. Each machine needs a steady supply of liner trucks, so any design that works for segments and containers alike gives the company more use out of the same Tesla parts.

The Vegas Loop remains the only Boring Company system open to the public, and it moves passengers in Tesla vehicles. A freight service would be a separate product, and the post gave no indication that one is close to launch. For now, it is a truck, a container and a short caption saying they fit together.

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Elon Musk will give ‘every kid in America’ a SpaceX share in 2027

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Elon Musk said he is planning to give “every one of his SpaceX shares to every kid in America” in 2027, stating that “this will be the first of many.”

SpaceX went public earlier this year, and its stock price has been relatively stable since leveling off shortly after its IPO. Based on its current price, it’s a gift of just over $10 billion to children across the United States.

It appears to be closely related to President Donald Trump’s bank accounts for children, which were set up earlier this year as Trump Accounts.

Just hours earlier, Anthropic had announced the establishment of its Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, “a new wholly-owned entity dedicated entirely to public benefit.” Musk responded by stating he recommended “giving the shares directly to the public,” and that he would be doing it that way.

Just a little bit later, Musk said children across the U.S. would be getting a share from him:

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There are roughly 70 million children, meaning someone under the age of 18, in the United States, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. Musk’s ownership of SpaceX stock shows he has around 849 million Class A shares of SpaceX stock, according to filings with the SEC.

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Elon Musk reveals why Boring Co’s biggest East Coast project never happened

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(Credit: The Boring Company)

Elon Musk revealed in a post on X that “Permits were impossible to get,” explaining the fate of The Boring Company’s most ambitious East Coast proposal.

The comment responded to a query about what became of his July 20, 2017 announcement that he had “just received verbal govt approval” for an underground Hyperloop connecting New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., capable of carrying passengers from the Big Apple to the Nation’s Capital in just 29 minutes.

The Boring Company receives verbal ‘approval’ to build NY to DC Hyperloop tunnel

The 2017 post, which envisioned city-center stations and multiple elevators in each city, sparked immediate scrutiny. Local and state officials in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. said they had no knowledge of any approval. A White House spokesperson confirmed only “promising conversations” about the transformative infrastructure.

Musk clarified shortly after that there was “still a lot of work” to do for formal approvals.

Limited progress followed, as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s administration issued a conditional utility permit and supported work near Fort Meade. In 2018, Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary permit for site preparation and excavation on a vacant lot at 53 New York Ave. NE in the NoMa neighborhood, which The Boring Company said could become a station.

A draft environmental assessment for a D.C.-Baltimore segment was released in 2019. Yet, by April 2021, the company had removed the project from its website, and the Federal Highway Administration reported receiving no indication of further interest. Communication with Maryland officials had ceased.

The full corridor would have required coordination among the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, the Federal Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, and other agencies.

Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, utility clearances, and approvals for novel infrastructure added to the overall complexity of the project and its approval.

Speculation on the permitting barriers centers around a few factors, but a multi-state, multi-level route involving unproven high-speed vacuum-tube technology inherently triggers exhaustive safety, environmental, and engineering reviews that can stretch for years, even for conventional projects.

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There are also other elements, of course, like officials who may face political exposure if a privately funded, untested system encountered anything such as cost overruns, delays, or safety issues. On the outset of this project, there were limited things such as engineering plans or demonstrated technology maturity, which also added to the potential skepticism.

The East Coast vision for Boring Co., once framed as a privately funded revolution that could reshape Northeast travel, quietly ended without construction of the promised network. Musk’s recent statement frames the outcome as a regulatory impasse, unfortunate but not unexpected.

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