CLUNKER

Tesla’s Steering Wheel Detached While on Highway, NJ Motorist Says

A towing company employee who encountered the driver after the incident said the steering wheel appeared to be “in his lap.”

A man driving his Tesla down a New Jersey highway this weekend was horrified when the vehicle’s steering wheel fell off in his hands, he told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday. Prerak Patel, who shared images of the detached steering wheel in a Jan. 29 tweet, told the outlet he was able to bring the car to a stop on the side of the road. “We were lucky enough,” he said. “Thank God I was able to make it off. If there was a truck or a car…” An employee of the towing company contracted to tow the Tesla away told NJ Advance Media that he’d encountered the driver, who seemed to be holding the steering wheel “in his lap.” Footage later shared by Patel appeared to show an empty steering column. Patel is hardly the first frustrated Tesla owner to take to social media with a complaint of a vehicle falling apart. In 2020, an English travel agent tweeted at Musk after his steering wheel fell off in transit. “Concerned the rest of the car will fall to bits too!” the user wrote.