Shares of Tesla, an electric car company and Silicon Valley darling, are down several points today on news that the company will recall every Model S sedan over a seatbelt issue uncovered in a single incident in Europe.
The recall includes nearly 90,000 cars. Tesla stressed in an email to customers — pasted below — that it does not know of any other Model S cars with the same issue. Still, the recall is on. According to the company, the car in question was involved in an injury-free situation.
Tesla is not a complete stranger to recalls. In 2014, the company recalled 29,000 Model S wall chargers. Owners of Model S cars have several options concerning how to get their car sorted, including the company’s own service centers.
A question regarding the potential financial impact of the recall was not immediately returned for comment. Currently, Tesla has lost around three-quarters of a billion dollars in value.
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Here’s the full email Tesla sent to its customers today:
We are sending you this email to inform you of a proactive action Tesla is taking to ensure your safety. Tesla recently found a Model S in Europe with a front seat belt that was not properly connected to the outboard lap pretensioner. This vehicle was not involved in a crash and there were no injuries. However, in the event of a crash, a seatbelt in this condition would not provide full protection. First and foremost, we care about your safety.
This is the only customer vehicle we know of with this condition. Even though we have since inspected the seat belts in over 3,000 vehicles spanning the entire range of Model S production and found no issues, we have decided to conduct a voluntary recall as a proactive and precautionary measure to inspect all front Model S seat belts and make absolutely sure that they are properly connected. (We have no concerns regarding seat belts in the rear of Model S.)
Our records indicate you own a Model S affected by this voluntary recall. We will be sending you an official recall notice by mail, but you don’t need to wait for this notice to schedule your free inspection.
You have two options for your inspection:
1) Use our online scheduling tool to book an appointment
BOOK ONLINE
2) Visit a Tesla Service Center
Locate your nearest service center using the link below and call directly to book an appointment. You can email the service center team if this is more convenient for you, email addresses are listed on the Find Us page.
FIND US
Alternatively, you can call 844-248-3752. By calling this number, you will automatically be routed to a local service center based upon the area code you are calling from. If you have a blocked number, or would like to reach a specific location, please dial the service center directly.
If you are concerned about the status of your seatbelt prior to your scheduled inspection, you may be able to detect this condition by pulling very firmly on the lap portion of your seat belt with a force of at least 80 pounds. This procedure may detect an improperly attached seat belt but performing this procedure does not replace the need for an inspection by a Tesla technician.
Thank you for your ongoing support. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
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