Tesla Recalling Over 125,000 Cars Over Seat Belt Issue

Another day, another Tesla recall.

Not Buckled

Tesla is once again in the hot seat after federal regulators found an issue with more than 125,000 of its cars' seat belts.

As the Associated Press reports, the issue deals with the seat belt warning systems for a wide range of Tesla models and years.

Specifically, reports cite issues with certain 2012-2024 Model S vehicles, 2015-2024 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y — which, basically, is a good portion of Teslas on the road today.

Tesla's seat belt warning system, as in other cars, is supposed to audibly and visually alert drivers and passengers when seat belts are not securely fastened, but apparently, those warnings were not going off when they were supposed to in some of the aforementioned models. That doesn't comply with federal regulations, the AP notes, thus resulting in the recall.

In many ways, it's the last thing the embattled EV maker needs, with plummeting sales, slowing demand, and a freewheeling CEO hellbent on awarding himself the biggest pay package in US corporate history.

Probes on Probes

As with most other recalls targeting the Elon Musk-owned electric carmaker, the recall is related to software and as such, a patch will be sent virtually starting early June, the report indicates.

Notably, this widespread recall comes on the heels of reports that the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has demanded more information from Tesla in its investigation into a power steering issue.

The power steering probe is one of multiple the agency has opened regarding Tesla, including its inquiries into crashes and deaths related to the company's so-called "Full-Self Driving" software and its scrutiny of its "Autopilot" mode, which resulted in the recall of two million of its cars at the end of 2023.

In both of those assisted driving cases, the federal government has criticized Tesla's patches as not going far enough to fix the problems, which, in the case of the Autopilot recall, led to a subsequent probe.

By comparison, the issue that led to the seatbelt warning recall seems significantly less dangerous, and Tesla has said that it's not aware of any crashes, injuries, or deaths related to the problem.

Nevertheless, it's a pretty bad look for Tesla to be dealing with a big recall right now as it struggles to bounce back from lowered sales while the result of the EV industry flourishes.

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