It appears Tesla was not immune to the supply chain issues that ravaged the global auto industry last year with the computer chip shortage forcing the world's leading electric car maker to remove one of the two electronic control units that are normally equipped in the steering racks of some of its vehicles.
Two Tesla employees with knowledge of the situation told CNBC that the company decided to remove the steering component from some of its made-in-China Model 3 and Model Y cars to meet its fourth-quarter sales goals. CNBC confirmed Tesla's decision by seeing an internal correspondence regarding the removal of the electric control unit.
A semiconductor shortage has been plaguing automakers across the globe, forcing car brands to slash production as they try to align parts supplies with their vehicle schedules. Demand for computer chips grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, with consumers scooping up a plethora of tech products. That diverted supplies of the important component, with the shortage affecting several industries, including the auto manufacturing business.
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Tesla's cutting of the steering component is major news as the company did not disclose the removal of that feature in cars that it has already delivered to its customers. Among those affected by the exclusion were vehicles shipped to customers in the United Kingdom, China, Germany, Australia, and other parts of Europe. It was still not clear whether Tesla would make a similar change to cars shipped to or manufactured in the United States.
The specific item that was removed from the Tesla cars is an electronic control unit in the vehicle's electric power assisted steering systems. Those systems translate steering wheel movements into wheel turns on the street. Before the wide usage of electronic components in vehicles, cars would rely on a steering rack, a pinion, and a pump to translate steering wheel movements into turns.
According to veteran transportation safety researcher and principal advisor for HWA Analytics in Ann Arbor, Richard Wallace, that all changed with the emergence of electric power assisted steering systems which help drivers navigate the roads with several assistance features such as the "ability to automatically keep a car in the center of a lane."
Tesla decided to omit the component because its engineers deemed the electronic control unit as redundant, with that part primarily installed as a backup. Removing the control unit will help Tesla cut costs near-term, as long as no problems surface in relation to the car's altered system.
Removing the dual electronic system from its cars may help save Tesla some money but that would prevent them from providing level 3 functionality to its vehicles. That being said, the omission would not cause safety issues to the vehicle given that the control unit is used mainly as a backup.
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