U.S. upgrades safety probe into nearly 159,000 Tesla vehicles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Monday it was upgrading a probe into nearly 159,000 Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles over touchscreen failures to an engineering analysis.

The auto safety regulator had opened a preliminary evaluation in June. The NHTSA said the failure can result in the loss of rear-camera image display when in reverse and reduced rear visibility when backing up, and can impact defogging ability, and audible chimes relating to Autopilot and turn signals. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)