NHTSA Closes Tesla Power Steering Investigation After OTA Fix

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has officially closed its investigation into reports of power steering failures affecting more than 376,000 Tesla vehicles. The agency concluded the issue was adequately addressed through the company’s recall and over-the-air (OTA) software update.

The investigation focused on 2023 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles after owners began reporting incidents involving a sudden increase in steering effort or, in some cases, an apparent loss of power steering assistance. Drivers frequently reported seeing a “Steering assist reduced” warning message, while others described the steering as feeling unusually stiff, “notchy,” or producing clicking sensations before the problem appeared.

Federal regulators first launched a preliminary review in July 2023 following an increasing number of complaints. By February 2024, the probe had escalated into a formal engineering analysis as investigators sought to determine the cause and scope of the issue.

Tesla ultimately traced the problem to an overvoltage condition inside the steering Electronic Control Unit (ECU). According to the company, excessive voltage could damage components responsible for operating the primary electronic power steering system.

The automaker designed the system with redundancy, allowing a secondary motor drive system to maintain steering assistance if the primary system failed while the vehicle was moving. However, once the vehicle slowed to a stop while operating on the backup system, electronic steering assistance would no longer be available, leaving drivers with only manual steering until repairs were completed.

To address the issue, Tesla released software version 2023.38.4 beginning in October 2023 through an OTA update. The software was intended to prevent the overvoltage condition from occurring and avoid damage to the steering ECU components.

The software later formed the basis of an OTA recall, officially filed in February 2025 and covering approximately 376,241 vehicles in the United States.

According to NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation, complaint volumes and field reports dropped significantly following the deployment of the software update. Regulators reviewed owner complaints alongside Tesla’s internal field data before deciding to close the engineering analysis.

This is the third Tesla investigation the NHTSA has closed in recent months. Earlier this year the agency ended a three-year investigation into concerns the steering wheels in Model Y vehicles were falling off. The NHTSA also closed a long-running investigation into Smart Summon, determining the incidents tied to the system were both rare and largely minor in nature.

You can read the full closing resume below.