eMMC NAND to Die in 159,000 Telsa Electric Cars

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eMMC NAND to Die in 159,000 Telsa Electric Cars

On June 22, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE20-010 to investigate incidents of media control unit failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year 2012-2015 Tesla Model S vehicles equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with an integrated 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device.

EMMC NAND flash devices have a finite lifespan based upon the number of program/erase cycles. The subject MCU allegedly fails prematurely due to memory wear-out of the eMMC NAND flash.

Tesla used the same MCU with the Tegra 3 processor in approximately 159,000 2012-2018 Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles built by Tesla through early 2018.

In response to ODI’s Information Request for PE20-010, Tesla provided ODI with 2,399 complaints and field reports, 7,777 warranty claims, and 4,746 non-warranty claims related to MCU replacements. The data show failure rates over 30% in certain build months and accelerating failure trends after 3 to 4 years-in-service.