October 23, 2025 • 10 mins
Tesla announced a recall of about 13,000 vehicles in the U.S. due to a battery‑pack contactor defect that can cause sudden power loss while driving. We walk through which models and build dates are affected, how the defect works, who the suppliers are, and what it means for owners and the EV market.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
This is a show where we Tesla has announced a recall of
roughly 13,000 vehicles in the United States.
The affected vehicles include certain 2025 Model 3 sedans
built between March 8th and August 12th and certain 2026
Model YSUVS built between March 15th and August 15th.
(00:24):
Tesla said the recall stems froma defect in the battery pack
contactor, which is a component that may open while the
vehicle's in drive, causing lossof power and the inability to
apply torque. The company said it reviewed 36
warranty claims and 26 field reports to identify this issue.
Tesla identified 2 suppliers tied to the defective part
(00:46):
Systemis Mesatronicos. I'm sorry, I just butchered
that. And they're in Mexico.
That's a very long name. And I it's MEC Mechatronicos
Intika Sappi in Mexico, which isa Tier 2 supplier and Sanchuan
USA Inc in Taiwan, it was a Tier1 supplier.
(01:08):
The recall covers vehicles equipped with battery pack
contactors manufactured with an Intika solenoid.
Now, Tesla said to replace the affected contactor with a
certified unit that does not contain the Intaca solenoid and
maintains a coil termination connection at no cost to owners.
The company also said it is notifying all potentially
(01:30):
affected owners. From a consumer perspective, the
immediate risk is clear. A sudden loss of drive power
while in motion is a safety hazard, especially if the
vehicles in traffic emerging. The technical detail is that the
contactor may open unexpectedly,cutting off current flow from
the battery pack. Now that failure mode means the
(01:50):
motor loses torque in the car may decelerate or lose Dr.
capabilities. Now from Tesla's operational
side, this recall raises a few questions.
First, how many units will actually encounter this issue in
the field and Tesla estimates approximately 8000 model wise
and 5000 Model 3's are affected.Second, what is the root cause
(02:13):
path from supplier defect to in vehicle failure?
Tesla points to the Intika solenoid and coil termination
connection issues in the contactor.
And 3rd, what's the cost impact for Tesla?
Recall itself may be limited to about 13,000 vehicles, but the
brand impact could ripple if owners lose confidence in the
(02:34):
ability for Tesla to make a safecar.
Now, for Tesla owners outside the US, this recall may trigger
a closer inspection of whether vehicles built in other regions
share the same components. And while the recall notice
currently only covers US vehicles built in those specific
windows, Tesla vehicles are produced globally and many
components may cross markets. Now, prospective buyers may
(03:00):
interpret this as a caution signal.
Tesla's vehicle reliability narrative takes a hit when a
drive power failure, this is very serious, leads to a recall.
I mean, let's just think about this for a second.
If you're merging lanes and you'll lose complete power and
you needed that power to get into the lane safely and you
(03:20):
have a car that's speeding up behind you.
You know you're going say if you're, you're in a lane and
you're trying to pass somebody and your lane is going about 50
miles an hour. They're they're slow and you
need to get into the left lane. If you're in the US and you need
to get a little bit of power so you can swoop over into the left
(03:41):
lane because this person in front of you going is a little
bit slow. You want to make a safe lane
change. You accelerate a little bit and
while you're accelerating, there's a car behind you in the
left lane that's coming up to you at a decent amount of speed.
70 miles an hour, right? Like that's a normal highway
speed. What if you're merging?
You're going 60 to merge left because that other guy's going
(04:03):
50 and this person that's going 7075 is coming up behind you
fast. You lose power mid pullover like
mid shift in lanes, then what happens?
There's a possible accident that's going to happen because
this person that's going 75 miles an hour expects you to
accelerate to 70 miles an hour if you get in the left lane,
(04:23):
right? And I mean, these things happen
all the time. And it's not just with incidents
with power failure, but it happens all the time in regular
highways. People don't merge properly and
they don't have the right speed timed out.
So if you do have the right speed, time to, if you'd have it
all figured out in your head andyou're going to do that merge
(04:45):
and then all of a sudden you don't have power, then what?
Then what do you do if you have no power at all?
You get slammed into by that other car that's going 70 miles
an hour. I'm not trying to doomsday this
at all, not at all. I'm just telling you a scenario
that it is possible this could happen.
So anybody that has one of thesevehicles, I urge you to go get
(05:06):
it checked out, take it to your Tesla dealer, have them look it
over, have them fix the problem.You know, if electric vehicles
are considered safer than ICE vehicles because of the
batteries, because of the powertrain, because of the fact
that you can accelerate so fast,then this is stopping that.
(05:26):
And if there's, you know, if they do end up with 13,000
vehicles ish around there that are affected, that's a decent
chunk of vehicles. You know, they have millions of
vehicles on the road. But if they find others that
this is happening to even in other countries, they should
really focus on getting this taken care of as soon as
(05:48):
possible. Now, battery pack and a high
voltage systems are very finicky, right?
It's a critical risk vector thatpeople have to watch out for
because if this happens to some vehicles, there may be other
vehicles that this hasn't happened to yet or hasn't been
(06:10):
talked about yet. And maybe it's the supplier,
maybe it's another supplier that's doing a different part
like this. So these are all the things that
can go through somebody's mind when they're buying a, a Tesla.
If you're going to drop $60,000 on a vehicle, you want it to
perform well. And as we know, every vehicle
(06:31):
has things that it doesn't do well, but most vehicles are
designed to merge lanes properlyand continue powering through
things like that. So if you're going to buy a
Tesla and you're dead set on getting an EV, maybe you're
going to look at a Rivian, maybeyou're going to look at a
Porsche. If, you know, maybe if you're
(06:52):
not in the USABYD would be a good choice for you because they
don't have this issue now. And that's I'm just talking
hypothetically for people who are in the market to buy an EV
right now, they might look at this and go, hey, man, this says
this doesn't sound safe for my kids.
I don't want this to happen to my kids.
You know, I'm, I'm merging lanes.
I'm taking my kids home from ballet or soccer practice or
(07:17):
whatever, you know, going to a camping trip and I'm trying to
merge lanes safely. I'm going up a hill in my, my
car loses power when it's shifting lanes.
That's one scenario. You know, that's a horrible
thing to think about when you'rea parent.
Also, you buy an EV because you know, it has that acceleration
(07:37):
and it clicks it off in your head.
Like he meant I might not have acceleration all the time.
Because this one thing, this onefault, I, I heard about it.
So there's a thing that could happen to Tesla's.
So, you know, the consumer should be wary of things like
this. You should take these things
into consideration when you actually buy a a new vehicle,
(07:59):
especially an expensive vehicle like a Tesla anywhere from
45,000 to over $100,000. You know model threes and model
wise right now, but who knows what other vehicles are impacted
because we don't have the data from that supplier from those
(08:21):
two suppliers, right? The the Mexican supplier and the
Taiwan supplier, Tier 2 and Tier1 suppliers.
So we don't have that data and Tesla will definitely have that
data coming soon. So Tesla, you know, they might
be selling more used model threes and model wise because
(08:42):
they're not the same models as the ones that are affected.
But you should check your build date when you buy your vehicle
just in case when you go to Tesla, when you talk with them,
you know, when you chat with their support on their website,
make sure that the model that you buy is not one of these
models. Make sure it's a different
model. You know, you can get a model
(09:05):
wire model 3, but make sure it isn't within that time frame of
these things of these batteries,the components being being
faulty, the contactor. So Tesla only did March and
August, March 8th and August 12th for Model Threes and Model
(09:28):
YSUV is March 15th and August 15th.
Look for those dates when you'regoing out to purchase a Tesla.
Like I said, I'm a huge Tesla fan.
I just got to let you know the information and I'm sorry about
the supplier name. I murder that.
I butchered that. But it's a difficult name to say
and I haven't said in a while, so I apologize for that.
(09:53):
Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
I really do appreciate your support.
If you could take a second and hit the subscribe or the follow
button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening
on right now, I greatly appreciate it.
It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never
miss an episode. And each episode is about 10
minutes or less to get you caught up quickly.
(10:13):
And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
to patreon.com/stagezero and please take care of yourselves
and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
This is a show where we Tesla has announced a recall of
roughly 13,000 vehicles in the United States.
The affected vehicles include certain 2025 Model 3 sedans
built between March 8th and August 12th and certain 2026
Model YSUVS built between March 15th and August 15th.
(00:24):
Tesla said the recall stems froma defect in the battery pack
contactor, which is a component that may open while the
vehicle's in drive, causing lossof power and the inability to
apply torque. The company said it reviewed 36
warranty claims and 26 field reports to identify this issue.
Tesla identified 2 suppliers tied to the defective part
(00:46):
Systemis Mesatronicos. I'm sorry, I just butchered
that. And they're in Mexico.
That's a very long name. And I it's MEC Mechatronicos
Intika Sappi in Mexico, which isa Tier 2 supplier and Sanchuan
USA Inc in Taiwan, it was a Tier1 supplier.
(01:08):
The recall covers vehicles equipped with battery pack
contactors manufactured with an Intika solenoid.
Now, Tesla said to replace the affected contactor with a
certified unit that does not contain the Intaca solenoid and
maintains a coil termination connection at no cost to owners.
The company also said it is notifying all potentially
(01:30):
affected owners. From a consumer perspective, the
immediate risk is clear. A sudden loss of drive power
while in motion is a safety hazard, especially if the
vehicles in traffic emerging. The technical detail is that the
contactor may open unexpectedly,cutting off current flow from
the battery pack. Now that failure mode means the
(01:50):
motor loses torque in the car may decelerate or lose Dr.
capabilities. Now from Tesla's operational
side, this recall raises a few questions.
First, how many units will actually encounter this issue in
the field and Tesla estimates approximately 8000 model wise
and 5000 Model 3's are affected.Second, what is the root cause
(02:13):
path from supplier defect to in vehicle failure?
Tesla points to the Intika solenoid and coil termination
connection issues in the contactor.
And 3rd, what's the cost impact for Tesla?
Recall itself may be limited to about 13,000 vehicles, but the
brand impact could ripple if owners lose confidence in the
(02:34):
ability for Tesla to make a safecar.
Now, for Tesla owners outside the US, this recall may trigger
a closer inspection of whether vehicles built in other regions
share the same components. And while the recall notice
currently only covers US vehicles built in those specific
windows, Tesla vehicles are produced globally and many
components may cross markets. Now, prospective buyers may
(03:00):
interpret this as a caution signal.
Tesla's vehicle reliability narrative takes a hit when a
drive power failure, this is very serious, leads to a recall.
I mean, let's just think about this for a second.
If you're merging lanes and you'll lose complete power and
you needed that power to get into the lane safely and you
(03:20):
have a car that's speeding up behind you.
You know you're going say if you're, you're in a lane and
you're trying to pass somebody and your lane is going about 50
miles an hour. They're they're slow and you
need to get into the left lane. If you're in the US and you need
to get a little bit of power so you can swoop over into the left
(03:41):
lane because this person in front of you going is a little
bit slow. You want to make a safe lane
change. You accelerate a little bit and
while you're accelerating, there's a car behind you in the
left lane that's coming up to you at a decent amount of speed.
70 miles an hour, right? Like that's a normal highway
speed. What if you're merging?
You're going 60 to merge left because that other guy's going
(04:03):
50 and this person that's going 7075 is coming up behind you
fast. You lose power mid pullover like
mid shift in lanes, then what happens?
There's a possible accident that's going to happen because
this person that's going 75 miles an hour expects you to
accelerate to 70 miles an hour if you get in the left lane,
(04:23):
right? And I mean, these things happen
all the time. And it's not just with incidents
with power failure, but it happens all the time in regular
highways. People don't merge properly and
they don't have the right speed timed out.
So if you do have the right speed, time to, if you'd have it
all figured out in your head andyou're going to do that merge
(04:45):
and then all of a sudden you don't have power, then what?
Then what do you do if you have no power at all?
You get slammed into by that other car that's going 70 miles
an hour. I'm not trying to doomsday this
at all, not at all. I'm just telling you a scenario
that it is possible this could happen.
So anybody that has one of thesevehicles, I urge you to go get
(05:06):
it checked out, take it to your Tesla dealer, have them look it
over, have them fix the problem.You know, if electric vehicles
are considered safer than ICE vehicles because of the
batteries, because of the powertrain, because of the fact
that you can accelerate so fast,then this is stopping that.
(05:26):
And if there's, you know, if they do end up with 13,000
vehicles ish around there that are affected, that's a decent
chunk of vehicles. You know, they have millions of
vehicles on the road. But if they find others that
this is happening to even in other countries, they should
really focus on getting this taken care of as soon as
(05:48):
possible. Now, battery pack and a high
voltage systems are very finicky, right?
It's a critical risk vector thatpeople have to watch out for
because if this happens to some vehicles, there may be other
vehicles that this hasn't happened to yet or hasn't been
(06:10):
talked about yet. And maybe it's the supplier,
maybe it's another supplier that's doing a different part
like this. So these are all the things that
can go through somebody's mind when they're buying a, a Tesla.
If you're going to drop $60,000 on a vehicle, you want it to
perform well. And as we know, every vehicle
(06:31):
has things that it doesn't do well, but most vehicles are
designed to merge lanes properlyand continue powering through
things like that. So if you're going to buy a
Tesla and you're dead set on getting an EV, maybe you're
going to look at a Rivian, maybeyou're going to look at a
Porsche. If, you know, maybe if you're
(06:52):
not in the USABYD would be a good choice for you because they
don't have this issue now. And that's I'm just talking
hypothetically for people who are in the market to buy an EV
right now, they might look at this and go, hey, man, this says
this doesn't sound safe for my kids.
I don't want this to happen to my kids.
You know, I'm, I'm merging lanes.
I'm taking my kids home from ballet or soccer practice or
(07:17):
whatever, you know, going to a camping trip and I'm trying to
merge lanes safely. I'm going up a hill in my, my
car loses power when it's shifting lanes.
That's one scenario. You know, that's a horrible
thing to think about when you'rea parent.
Also, you buy an EV because you know, it has that acceleration
(07:37):
and it clicks it off in your head.
Like he meant I might not have acceleration all the time.
Because this one thing, this onefault, I, I heard about it.
So there's a thing that could happen to Tesla's.
So, you know, the consumer should be wary of things like
this. You should take these things
into consideration when you actually buy a a new vehicle,
(07:59):
especially an expensive vehicle like a Tesla anywhere from
45,000 to over $100,000. You know model threes and model
wise right now, but who knows what other vehicles are impacted
because we don't have the data from that supplier from those
(08:21):
two suppliers, right? The the Mexican supplier and the
Taiwan supplier, Tier 2 and Tier1 suppliers.
So we don't have that data and Tesla will definitely have that
data coming soon. So Tesla, you know, they might
be selling more used model threes and model wise because
(08:42):
they're not the same models as the ones that are affected.
But you should check your build date when you buy your vehicle
just in case when you go to Tesla, when you talk with them,
you know, when you chat with their support on their website,
make sure that the model that you buy is not one of these
models. Make sure it's a different
model. You know, you can get a model
(09:05):
wire model 3, but make sure it isn't within that time frame of
these things of these batteries,the components being being
faulty, the contactor. So Tesla only did March and
August, March 8th and August 12th for Model Threes and Model
(09:28):
YSUV is March 15th and August 15th.
Look for those dates when you'regoing out to purchase a Tesla.
Like I said, I'm a huge Tesla fan.
I just got to let you know the information and I'm sorry about
the supplier name. I murder that.
I butchered that. But it's a difficult name to say
and I haven't said in a while, so I apologize for that.
(09:53):
Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
I really do appreciate your support.
If you could take a second and hit the subscribe or the follow
button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening
on right now, I greatly appreciate it.
It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never
miss an episode. And each episode is about 10
minutes or less to get you caught up quickly.
(10:13):
And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
to patreon.com/stagezero and please take care of yourselves
and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.
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