Tesla fixes seat belt chime issue on 817,000 cars

Another day, another recall for Tesla – though this is again one of those recalls which can be remedied with an over-the-air software fix.

According to the NHTSA safety recall report, the recall includes certain model year 2021-2022 Model S and Model X vehicles, as well as all Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. The issue lies in the seat belt reminder chime, which in some cases does not activate after vehicle start.

This happens when the chime is active and the driver exits the vehicle. When the driver later returns to the vehicle, the chime no longer starts, which may be dangerous as it fails to remind the vehicle occupants if someone's seat belt was not buckled.

According to the report, Tesla was not aware of any warranty claims, field reports, crashes, injuries or fatalities due to this issue as of January 31, 2022.

The issue will be fixed with an over-the-air firmware update, which was already introduced to all Tesla models (it's in the firmware version 2021.43.101.1), and will be deployed in the firmware version 2022.4.5 to cars delivered in early February 2022. Tesla owners aren't required to take any further action.

The recall comes just days after Tesla issued a recall for 53,822 vehicles due to an experimental rolling stop feature. Many Tesla car owners have also recently complained about a "phantom braking" issue when driving in Autopilot mode, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking into these reports as well.