Tesla Model X Recall: Software Update To Fix Airbag Issue In Right-Hand-Drive Cars

Electric car maker Tesla will roll out a software update over the weekend for Model X vehicles that are affected by faulty software for the passenger-side airbags, according to reports Wednesday. The Elon Musk company informed the owners of the affected vehicles by email, asking them to not use the front passenger seat till they received the software update, as a precaution.

The exact trouble with the airbags — which was found during “routine internal tests this week” — has not been specified by Tesla in the email to its customers, and the company referred to it only as “an anomaly with the passenger airbag… After reviewing the results of this test, we were able to isolate the anomaly to the software controlling the passenger airbags in right-hand-drive Model X cars only.”

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The airbag control module and associated software in question came from German multinational Bosch, which is among the world’s largest suppliers of automotive parts. Tesla is “already developing an over-the-air software update” and “will be deploying that update to all affected cars this weekend” to fix the unspecified problem with the Bosch control module, according to reports. There have been no reports of any Model X customers that have faced a problem so far because of the software bug.

Like Tesla said in the email, not all Model X SUVs have been affected by what will be termed a “voluntary recall.” About 4,000 vehicles, all of them right-hand-drive, will need the update. That means Model X owners in the United States have nothing to be concerned about, while some vehicle owners in countries like the Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom will have to wait for the weekend before they can have a passenger in the front seat.

“There is no need to bring your vehicle into service. All you need to do is accept the over-the-air software update that we will be deploying to your car. In the meantime, as a precaution, we recommend that the front passenger seat of your vehicle not be occupied until the software update is installed,” the email to customers said.

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Insofar as recalls go, this could be the first instance of an online recall anywhere in the world. But bringing in your car to the dealership or a service center isn’t going away anytime soon.

Even Tesla is doing physical replacement of the passenger-side airbags in all Model S sedans produced in 2012, as a part of a larger industry-wide recall of faulty airbags manufactured by Japanese supplier Takata. Eventually, all Model S vehicles manufactured up to late 2016 will be recalled, Tesla said as a part of its recall announcement in January. That recall affects all Model S variants everywhere in the world unless the manufacturing date was after late 2016. The company said it was offering the replacement around the world as a precaution, since “the safety of our customers is paramount.”

Tesla also recalled some Model S and Model X vehicles in Australia in May, reportedly over an issue with the electric park brake.