According to Reuters, Tesla will be recalling around 817,000 electric vehicles due to a safety belt issue.
The issue seems rather small at a first glance: in certain cases, the car fails to play back a warning sound when a seat belt is not buckled. NHTSA believes that this exposes the driver to serious injury into an accident, should they forget about the belt.
Most Model S and X units made in this year and the last, as well as Model 3 made in 2017-2022 and Model Y manufactured in 2020-2022 are affected. On the bright side, you do not need to take any additional action other than wait for a software fix to arrive to your car over the air and be installed automatically.
No incidents have been linked to the case so far. Tesla points out that all visual indicators signaling about the belt continue working properly, and that even if your car is affected, a sound warning always kicks in as soon as you accelerate past 14 mph (22 km/h).
In earlier news, we reported another recall concerning 54,000 Tesla cars (Models S, 3, X and Y). In certain cases, the on-board Autopilot system can drive past stop signs at a low speed without stopping. While a somewhat common practice, it is forbidden by traffic regulations and not safe. That issue will also be fixed via software.