Tesla runs afoul of font-size rule in 2.2 million electric cars

LONDON: Tesla drivers no longer have to squint to read the warning lights in their electric vehicles, thanks to eagle-eyed auditors at the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The regulator posted an unusual recall report on its website Friday from Tesla Inc., in which the manufacturer acknowledges that 2.2 million of its cars used too small a font size to warn about braking issues.

The automaker started releasing an over-the-air software update late last month to address this, free of charge.

NHTSA discovered on Jan 8 that the company had violated a federal safety standard as part of a routine audit of the 2023 Tesla Model Y, according to the report.

Tesla investigated and completed its assessment two weeks later, making a recall determination. The company said it isn’t aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths related to the issue.

Recalls of this sort have drawn the ire of Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk, who’s referred to NHTSA as "the fun police.”

He and his fans on X, the social network he owns, complain that the term recall is anachronistic in instances where manufacturers address safety issues remotely, rather than require customers to take their car to a dealer.