Tesla has issued its first recall of 2025, affecting approximately 239,382 vehicles in the US, and more in Canada. Like most of Tesla’s recalls in 2024, this one will be fixed with an over-the-air (OTA) software update, but may also require a replacement of the Hardware 4 (HW4) computer.
According to recall documents posted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website, the issue involves 2024-2025 Model 3 and Model S vehicles as well as 2023-2025 Model X and Model Y vehicles. As we first told you last month, a number of owners of these vehicles had reported that their HW4 computers were failing, requiring a replacement under warranty.
Tesla was telling these customers that the issue was linked to a short circuit in the HW4 computer, resulting in a cascading failure of features inside their vehicle, including GPS inaccuracies, unresponsive displays and cameras, and disabled driver-assistance features.
Tesla has now acknowledged the shorting issue with this recall, and while the resulting issues were expansive, the recall only talks about the rearview camera malfunction, since this is a noncompliance issue with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 111 and increases the risk of collisions.
The company began addressing the issue in December 2024 with an OTA software update that modifies the vehicle’s power-up sequence to prevent the shorting failure in the car computer’s power components. That update is 2024.44.25.3, 2024.45.25.6 or a later release.
For vehicles already experiencing failures or stress that could lead to failure, Tesla will replace the car computer at no cost. Newer vehicles produced after December 16, 2024, include the updated software and revised hardware.
According to Tesla, HW4 failures may be exacerbated by cold weather conditions, which can cause the low-voltage battery to drop below operational thresholds.
You can read the full NHTSA recall notice below. Transport Canada has not yet issued a similar recall, but that should be coming soon.
