Feds probe Tesla after reports of steering wheels falling off

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday  into 120,000 Tesla Model Y vehicles after two r♏eports of steering wheels falling off while driving.

The auto safety regulator said the steering wheels in both 2023 model year vehicles, which had low milea📖ge, completely detached.

The v🍨ehicles were delivered to owners missing the retaining bolt that attaches the steering wheel to🀅 the steering column.

Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla were down 3.3% in morning tradin✱g to $181.77 a share.

The agency is opening a preliminary investigation to assess the “scope, frequency, and manufacturing processes associated with this condition.”

The investigation is a first step before the NHTSA cou♍ld demand a recall.

The agency said it received a complaint from a parent who had bought a new Model Y five days earlier and was on Route 1 South in Woodbridge, NJ, on Jan. 29 “and all the sudden steering wheel” fell off. “Was lucky there was no car behind and able to pull on divider.”

NHTSA  as part of the complaint filing. The tweet has received more tඣhan 2.4 million views on Twitterꦜ.

Tesla did not immediately respond to�🃏� a request for comment.

NHTSA said “both vehicles received an end of line repair requiring removal and re-installation of the steering wheel.”

The agency said a “friction fit maintained the connection between the steering wheel and the column splines during operation until separation.

“Sudden separation occurred when the force exerted on the steering wheel overcame the resistance of the friction fit while the vehicles were in motion.”