As Elon Musk’s rebranding of Twitter as “X” receives backlash this week, another one of his companies, Tesla, is dealing with a recall of nearly 16,000 vehicles due to a seatbelt issue.
According to a July 21 recall bulletin, “some Model S and Model X vehicles require inspection to the 1st row seat belts to confirm proper connection to the pre-tensioners.”
When the seatbelts are not correctly connected to the pretensioner anchors, they can detach. A July 14 release by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration noted that “a detached seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.”
In March, the NHTSA announced that the Office of Defects Investigation received two complaints about the Tesla seatbelts. These complaints included reports of how the front seat belts failed to remain connected to the seat belt anchor pretensioner while driving with seat belts worn properly. Per the announcement, 2022 and 2023 Model Year Tesla Model X vehicles were delivered to owners with insufficiently connected anchor linkages.
“Tesla front seats incorporate outboard pretensioners secured to the seat frame. The pretensioner anchor is designed to be disconnected with a special tool,” it explained. “The two allegations indicate that the connection failure occurred at this point. In both cases, the pretensioner and the linkage were not properly connected during assembly, resulting in friction fit maintaining the connection between the two until eventual separation.”
This separation happened “suddenly” when “the force exerted on the linkage overcame the resistance of the friction fit while the vehicles were in motion,” said the NHTSA. During both known incidents of sudden separation, the vehicles at low vehicle mileage. Fortunately, neither incident involved a vehicle collision.
To fix this issue, the pre-tensioners must be re-secured “and/or replace the seat belt retractors as directed,” said the July 21 notice. Overall, 15,869 vehicles – 2021-2023 Model S and Model X units – are potentially impacted by the flaw. Tesla Service will remedy the issue for free.
“Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 12, 2023,” said the NHTSA. “Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla’s number for this recall is SB-23-20-004.”
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