One solenoid in the battery pack could silently cut a Tesla's drive power

In October 2025 Tesla recalled 12,963 electric vehicles — 5,038 Model 3s and 7,925 Model Ys — after finding a defect in the battery pack's main contactor. The part, a solenoid made by InTiCa, could fail and interrupt high-voltage power to the drive system.

The failure can cause a sudden loss of drive power while driving, raising the risk of a crash. Tesla said it was aware of 36 warranty claims and 26 field reports as of 7 October, but no collisions or injuries.

The fix replaces the contactor free of charge. The recall covers select 2025 Model 3 and 2026 Model Y vehicles.

Tesla recalled 12,963 vehicles (5,038 Model 3s, 7,925 Model Ys) and replaced the faulty contactor free, after 36 warranty claims and 26 field reports.

Tesla used a single contactor component whose solenoid could fail electrically, and the design offered no graceful degradation — a failed contactor means the car simply loses drive power.

The defect surfaced only through field reports and warranty claims after the vehicles were on the road, because the failure signature was intermittent and hard to reproduce in advance.

A sudden loss of drive power in traffic is a safety-relevant failure, which is why the action was handled as a recall rather than a routine service campaign.

A single weak component in the high-voltage path can take drive power with no warning. Test the contactor for the duty it will see; treat a sudden loss of drive power as a safety defect.

Tesla replaced the faulty contactors in affected vehicles at no cost. The recall was small in scale and resolved without reported collisions or injuries.