Under pressure to hit fourth-quarter sales goals Tesla decided to remove one of the two electronic control units included in the steering racks of Model 3 and Model Y cars while coping with the global chip shortage.
The electric car maker did not disclose the exclusion, which has already affected tens of thousands of vehicles being shipped to customers in China, Australia, the UK, Germany, and other parts of Europe. Tesla decided against notifying customers and was not needed for level 2 driver-assistance features, as it was unclear whether Tesla would make similar changes to cars manufactured in or shipped to the U.S.
By using less scarce chips and quickly re-writing software, Tesla has fared better than most automakers in managing supply chain issues. Last month, Musk said, Tesla had faced a “chip hell of many chips” in 2021. He said the chip shortages were not a long-term issue, with factories increasing capacity and automakers guilty of panic buying of chips, slowed the supply chain.
