Most companies usually have a hard time dealing with recalls due to the logistics of transferring, fixing, then sending the cars back to the owners. Luckily, Tesla is fixing a recall problem with a simple over-the-air software update.
Tesla Deals with the Recall of 817,143 Vehicles Through Over-the-Air Software Update
According to the story by Electrek, Tesla is dealing with the recall of 817,143 vehicles through a simple over-the-air software update. The "recall" aims to fix the seat belt reminder alert problem as it was found failing to activate under certain conditions.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officially issued a safety recall notice over certain 2021-2022 Model S and Model X vehicles. The recall was also for all Model 3 and Model Y vehicles within the US to top everything off.
What was the Actual Problem Behind the Recall?
The problem happens when the reminder to buckle up their seatbelts fails to activate under particular circumstances. As per the NHTSA, these include the driver exiting the vehicle "in the preceding drive cycle while the chime was active and later returned to the vehicle, creating a new drive cycle."
Luckily, other alerts are not affected, nor the visual reminder. Alerts like "the one that activates at 22km/h if some seat belts are unbuckled" remain unaffected. Tesla, however, wasn't able to push a software update to fix the issue since the NHTSA officially considers a missing seat belt chime reminder what they called a "safety risk." With that, the company had to make the issue an "official safety recall."
NHTSA Expresses Concern Over Seat Belt Chime Problem
As per the NHTSA, should the audible seat belt reminder chime remain inactive during the start of a brand new drive cycle, the driver will not be able to notice the accompanying visual seat belt alert. This could cause the driver not to be reminded to buckle up their seat belts, leading to them operating the vehicle despite being unbuckled.
When the drivers start driving despite being unbuckled, the NHTSA says that this would officially increase the risk of injury. To add, the company is currently unaware of any injuries or fatalities that happened related to the particular condition.
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How was the Issue Spotted?
The people found the issue over at the South Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute or KATRI. KATRI then brought this particular issue to Tesla's attention sometime in January.
Tesla had already started to push for the new software update in order to fix the program "to the fleet" sometime last week. Luckily, Tesla does most of its software updates over-the-air, which allows both the company and the owners to avoid going to the official Tesla center to have their recalled vehicles fixed.
Related Article: Tesla Phantom Braking Experienced by Some EV Owners! NHTSA Receives More Than 100 Complaints
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
