Tesla’s seemingly never-ending saga with the controversial yoke steering wheel is continuing with the carmaker revealing some Model S and Model Xs with the yoke have the airbag of the round steering wheel, and vice versa.
A recall notice says that when certain Model S and Model Xs have been at service centers to have the yoke replaced with the round steering wheel, the wheel may have been equipped with a driver airbag designed specifically for the yoke. Additionally, some retrofitted yoke steering wheels have a driver airbag that’s been designed for the round steering wheel.
Read: Tesla Model S And Model X Yoke Wheel Is Now A $1,000 Option
Tesla says this mix-up could decrease airbag performance and pose a safety risk. A total of 159 vehicles are involved in the recall, consisting of select 2021-2023 Model S sedans built between February 3, 2021, and September 21, 2023, as well as 2021-2023 Model X crossovers that were assembled from July 14, 2021, to September 29, 2023. The carmaker is blaming service operators who may have equipped the alternative steering wheel with the incorrect driver airbag.
The issue came to the attention of the EV giant on October 9 when Tesla Service in Europe reported 12 cases in which round steering wheels with retrofitted with yoke steering wheels but the airbags were incorrect. Tesla quickly initiated an engineering study of these 12 vehicles and on October 16, extended this study to include 10 vehicles in the U.S. It inspected three vehicles and found that two of them had the correct airbag but that one in the U.S. had received the wrong airbag. Fortunately, Tesla is not aware of any injuries or deaths related to the mix-up.
Owners of impacted vehicles will be notified around January 2 and Tesla will inspect the driver airbag on all affected vehicles. The airbag will be replaced if it is found to be the wrong one.
This recall comes roughly three months after a separate recall was issued for the 2021-2023 Model S and Model X vehicles in the U.S. In that case, a total of 15,689 units were called in for repairs as they could be equipped with faulty seatbelt pretensioners that may not function as designed.
