Tesla recalls nearly 13,000 cars over a part that can cut all power while you are driving

Tesla is recalling nearly 13,000 vehicles in the United States because a battery component can suddenly cut electric power while the car is in motion. The defect centers on a high-voltage switch that connects the battery pack to the motor, and the automaker says it will replace the part free of charge. No crashes, injuries or deaths have been linked to the issue so far, though federal regulators and Tesla have both classified it as a safety recall rather than a routine service bulletin.

A Contactor That Can Open Without Warning

At the center of the recall is what is known as a battery pack contactor, a high-voltage switch that controls the flow of electricity from the battery to the drive motor. According to Tesla’s own recall filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the affected contactors were built with a solenoid supplied by Mexico’s Sistemas Mecatrónicos InTiCa and installed in housings made by Taiwan’s SongChuan. A poor coil termination connection inside that solenoid can cause the contactor to suddenly pop open on its own, severing the link between the battery and the motor. If that happens while the car is in drive, the vehicle loses propulsion instantly, which raises the risk of a collision if it occurs in traffic. Every electric vehicle relies on one or more of these contactors as the main link between the battery pack and the rest of the drive system; they are designed to snap open instantly during a crash or short circuit to prevent fires, which is also why a false or premature opening can strip power just as suddenly during ordinary driving. Because the contactor sits between the battery and the motor rather than in the steering or braking circuits, an affected car can typically still be steered and braked manually after losing propulsion, though without the power assist those systems rely on when the motor is running.

How a Federal Safety Recall Actually Works

A recall becomes official once a manufacturer files a Part 573 safety recall report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the document that legally obligates the company to notify every registered owner of an affected vehicle by mail and to provide a free remedy. That filing, which is public, spells out the defect, the number of vehicles involved, how the company discovered the problem and what fix it plans to offer. Owners do not need to wait for a letter to check their exposure; NHTSA’s website lets anyone enter a vehicle identification number to see whether an open recall applies, a tool that works across every manufacturer and model sold in the United States, not just Tesla’s.

Automakers can also issue a recall voluntarily, as Tesla did here, rather than waiting for NHTSA to order one after its own investigation, and doing so before a crash is reported is generally viewed as a sign the manufacturer is not obligated to wait for confirmed harm before acting.

Which Vehicles Are Affected

The recall covers 12,963 vehicles built for the U.S. market, split between two model lines, according to the safety recall report Tesla submitted to NHTSA. The larger share, 7,925 cars, are Model Y vehicles manufactured between March 15 and August 15, 2025. The remainder, 5,038 cars, are Model 3 sedans built between March 8 and August 12, 2025, according to figures reported by InsideEVs and confirmed in Tesla’s federal filing. Both ranges correspond to a specific window of contactor production, after which Tesla says the suspect parts were no longer installed on the assembly line.

No Warning Light Until It’s Too Late

One detail that sets this defect apart from many recalls is the absence of any advance warning. Per the NHTSA filing, affected vehicles give no alert before the contactor opens and power disappears; drivers only see a message on the car’s main screen after the fact, instructing them to safely pull over. Tesla has said it is aware of 36 warranty claims and 26 field reports tied to the condition, but the company maintains it has not identified any collisions, injuries or fatalities connected to the defect as of its filing.

The Free Fix

Tesla says owners of affected vehicles will have the contactor swapped out at no charge for a version that does not use the InTiCa solenoid and that maintains a secure coil termination connection. The repair takes roughly an hour and can be scheduled through the Tesla mobile app by selecting “Something Else” in the service request menu and noting “Open Recall Repair – Battery Pack Contactors” as the issue, according to InsideEVs’ reporting on the service process. Because all of the affected vehicles remain under Tesla’s new-vehicle warranty, the company has said it does not plan to offer a separate reimbursement program for owners who already paid to have the issue diagnosed or repaired independently.

A Small Fraction of Two Years of Production

Even at nearly 13,000 units, the recall touches a narrow slice of Tesla’s overall U.S. output, since both the Model Y and Model 3 are produced at high volume across multiple factories. Tesla has told regulators it estimates only about 1 percent of the recalled population actually carries the defective solenoid, meaning the company opted for a broad, precautionary recall covering an entire build window rather than trying to isolate individual units. For owners, the practical takeaway is the same regardless of the odds: the fix is free, the repair is quick, and the company is urging anyone who receives a notification letter to book an appointment rather than wait for symptoms that, by design, will not appear in advance.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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