One owner who said the wheel had come off while his family was in the car in January described it as a “horrific experience” and that he had only safely been able to come to a stop because there was no car behind him. The Model Y, which costs £44,990 and up, is Tesla’s top selling car. The NHTSA investigation is focused on around 120,089 cars from the 2023 model year. In both cases, the steering wheels were held to the rest of the car only with friction, and were detached when the wheel was gripped during motion. The Model Y vehicles were reportedly delivered without the bolt that fixes the wheel to the steering column, according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is investigating the claims.
Two Tesla owners have reported that the steering wheel fell off their cars while driving in the latest safety row to hit Elon Musk's company.
