The Nationwide Freeway and Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating (pdf) two separate non-crash-related seatbelt failures that occurred in newer Tesla Mannequin X automobiles (via NBC News).
NHTSA’s Workplace of Defects Investigation (ODI) notes two complaints from Mannequin X homeowners saying their entrance security belts failed to remain related to the seat belt anchor pretensioner. Each homeowners reported that the separation occurred whereas driving their 2022 and 2023 model-year Mannequin X SUVs. The investigators write that “each automobiles have been delivered to the homeowners with insufficiently related anchor linkages.”
NHTSA first opened the investigation on March twenty fourth and says as much as 50,000 or so Mannequin X automobiles may very well be affected by the difficulty. In each instances, the company says “connection failure” occurred within the space the place the anchor meets the pretensioner, as they “weren’t correctly related throughout meeting” and have been solely caught collectively by friction match. Separation occurred when “the power exerted on the linkage overcame the resistance of the friction match whereas the automobiles have been in movement.”
Tesla needed to difficulty a special seatbelt recall final 12 months to repair a difficulty that affected over 24,000 Model 3 vehicles. These occurred on account of unrelated service heart visits, the place techs didn’t reassemble the rear seat anchor appropriately.
