Tesla was previously forced to recall 2 million vehicles over its Autopilot feature Credit: Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Tesla is recalling 125,227 vehicles in the US due to a malfunction in its seatbelt warning system that could increase the chance of injury in a collision, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Friday (31 May).

According to the US regulator, the seat belt warning light and audible chime may not activate when disengaged. Tesla said it will be releasing an over-the-air software update to amend the issue in June. 

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Some of the cars being affected include the 2012-2024 Model S, 2015-2024 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3 and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles. 

According to the NHTSA, the remedy will involve removing the dependency of the driver seat occupancy sensor. The driver seat belt buckle and ignition status will be used to turn on the seat belt reminder signals.

The move comes as Tesla was forced to recall two million vehicles after the NHTSA claimed its Autopilot feature does not do enough to deter misuse. 

The move was a further blow to Tesla’s fully autonomous ambitions, which research company GlobalData predicted “is likely to be slow”.

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The difficulty of commercialising autonomous vehicles is outlined in GlobalData’sThematic Research: Autonomous Vehicles (2023) report.

The leap taken from SAE Level 1 autonomy to Level 2 has proven to be minor compared with the jump in complexity needed for Level 3 ‘eyes-off’ autonomous vehicle operation, according to the report.

Moving to Level 4 from Level 3 will be a bigger jump still, according to the report, even Level 3 vehicles will appear simple in comparison with the higher levels and capabilities demanded by truly self-driving Level 4 and Level 5 models.