Tesla Recalls 125,000 Vehicles for Seat Belt Warning System

Tesla is recalling more than 125,000 vehicles due to a seat belt warning system malfunction.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the seat belt warning system could fail to alert passengers of an unbelted seatbelt, increasing the risk of injury in the event of a crash.

“In the event of an unbelted driver, the seat belt warning light and audible chime may not activate as intended,” the recall stated. “As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, ‘Occupant Crash Protection.’”

The recall impacts 125,227 vehicles and includes 2017-2023 Model 3, 2012-2024 Model S, 2015-2024 Model X and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles. 

Tesla said it will be deploying an over-the-air software update, with owner notification letters mailing by July 27. 

The recall comes as the NHTSA raised several concerns in its investigation into the efficacy of Tesla’s December recall of its Autopilot Autosteer feature. Since the recall fix, 20 more crashes occurred, with the agency asking Tesla for more details and data to support the probe. 

Tesla has been in the spotlight this year, and not all the news has been positive.

In April, the company announced it was cutting the subscription cost of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in half for owners in the United States.

Related:Tesla Autopilot Probe Intensifies; 20 More Crashes Since Last Recall Fix

That same month Tesla announced it was laying off more than 10% of its workforce globally with 14,000 losing their jobs. 

In May, the company cut its Supercharger department, responsible for rolling out Tesla’s charging stations across the U.S.