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  • Tesla issues two recalls this month. Here’s what owners need to do.

    Tesla issues two recalls this month. Here’s what owners need to do.

    Tesla has two open recalls this month, and owners of affected vehicles will start receiving notification letters in the mail. One requires nothing from you. The other requires a service appointment.

    Rearview camera delay (218,868 vehicles)

    Tesla told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that a software condition on certain 2017 and 2021–2023 Model 3, 2020–2023 Model Y, and 2021–2023 Model S and Model X vehicles could delay the rearview camera image by up to 11 seconds after shifting into reverse — a violation of the federal rear-visibility standard. The affected cars were running firmware 2026.8.6.

    The good news: Tesla caught this internally and began pushing a fix over the air on April 11, 2026, well before the formal recall filing. By the time the recall was filed, more than 99.92% of affected vehicles had already installed firmware 2026.8.6.1 or later, which resolves the delay. If your car has that update or a newer one, no action is needed. You can confirm your software version under Controls > Software on the touchscreen. Notification letters for this recall started going out in the mail after July 3, 2026.

    Missing certification label (14,575 Model Ys)

    The second recall is narrower but requires a trip to service. Tesla told NHTSA that an automated scanner at the factory failed to verify that a required certification label — the sticker listing your car’s maximum loaded weight, tire specs, and manufacture date, required under 49 CFR Part 567 — had actually been applied. Tesla estimates about 45% of the affected cars are genuinely missing the label. Without it, an owner has no easy way to know the vehicle’s rated weight limits, which raises the risk of unknowingly overloading the car.

    This one covers Model Y vehicles built November 17, 2024 through February 24, 2025 (model year 2025), and February 25, 2025 through April 21, 2026 (model year 2026). If your Model Y falls in that window, Tesla says you need to schedule a service appointment through the Tesla app: go to Service > Request Service > Other > Something Else, and type “Open Recall Repair – Certification Label” in the description. A technician checks for the label and applies one if it’s missing, at no cost, in under 10 minutes. Notification letters for this recall begin mailing July 17, 2026.

    How to check your own car

    You don’t have to wait for a letter. Enter your VIN into NHTSA’s recall search or Tesla’s own VIN lookup tool to see whether either campaign applies to your vehicle. Neither recall has been linked to any reported crash or injury.

    Photo by Gustavo Fring.

  • California’s new EV incentive exempts Rivian and Lucid from a price cap that applies to Tesla

    California’s new EV incentive exempts Rivian and Lucid from a price cap that applies to Tesla

    California has enacted a new state EV purchase incentive that exempts only “California-headquartered” automakers from a $50,000 price cap, a carve-out that benefits Rivian and Lucid but not Tesla, which moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas, in 2021. The provision was first reported by Teslarati and is confirmed in the text of Senate Bill 168, which passed the California Legislature on June 29, 2026.

    How the incentive works

    SB 168 directs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to run a new incentive program for first-time zero-emission-vehicle buyers, funded through the 2026-27 state budget that Governor Gavin Newsom signed in June. Under the bill’s text, new vehicles must carry a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $50,000 or less, and used vehicles must sell for $25,000 or less, to qualify. CARB sets the actual incentive amount, which manufacturers are required to match; NBC Los Angeles reports the current figures are $3,500 off a new EV and $1,750 off a used one, applied as an instant discount at the point of sale rather than a rebate claimed later. Buyers must certify they have never previously owned or leased an EV.

    The headquarters exemption

    The bill text creates one exception to the price caps: “incentives under the program shall be provided to California-headquartered zero-emission vehicle companies regardless of the vehicle manufacturer’s suggested retail price or sales price.” A qualifying company is defined as one headquartered in California as of January 1, 2026, whose entire vehicle lineup is zero-emission. InsideEVs confirms that Rivian, headquartered in Irvine, and Lucid, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, both meet that definition, allowing their vehicles to qualify for the incentive regardless of price. Tesla, which relocated its corporate headquarters to Austin in 2021 while continuing to manufacture vehicles at its Fremont, California factory, does not meet the headquarters test and is therefore subject to the standard price caps like any other automaker.

    What it means for Tesla buyers

    Tesla is not barred from the program. Its vehicles are eligible on the same terms as any non-exempt automaker’s: if the MSRP is at or under $50,000, the vehicle can qualify for the incentive, subject to the buyer meeting the first-time-EV-buyer requirement and other program terms CARB is still finalizing. Current Model 3 and lower-trim Model Y configurations fall under that threshold, while pricier configurations do not. Edmunds lists the Model Y RWD starting at $39,990 and the Long Range/Premium trim at $46,380, both under the cap, while the Model Y Performance trim, at $58,880, exceeds it and would not qualify. By contrast, Rivian and Lucid models qualify for the incentive at any price under the headquarters exemption, including Lucid’s Air and Gravity, which start well above $50,000.

    As of early July 2026, the incentive program had not formally launched. CARB is still finalizing the grant agreements with automakers and dealerships required under SB 168 before buyers can claim the discount at the point of sale.

    Photo by Luke Miller.