According to the NHTSA site, Tesla is not among the affected vehicle manufacturers. I suppose you could qualify that with a "yet" but I'm an optimist. Their current list is as follows: BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota. Worth noting that these manufacturers have not identified all affected models yet and there is a VIN search tool on the safercar.gov website.
It is that "yet" qualifier that concerns me. I posted my question to see if anyone on this forum knew with certainty whether or not Takata airbags have been used by Tesla Motors.
Maybe Tesla was too little fish to get access to their bags... One time when being underestimated worked out?
I think it is a fairly short list... http://www.carsdirect.com/car-safety/who-are-the-most-popular-airbag-manufacturers Takata's airbag crisis may spur automaker shift to Autoliv, Daicel Ironically (and sadly), Airbags are supposed to add safety, not blow up in your face in a dangerous way.
In one case I have seen the Tesla has been added to the list. In others, no. I would try the safercar.gov website or call the service center just to be sure.
Can someone confirm the air bag manufacturer used by Tesla. If it is not Takata, which is it? The Takata recall has just recently been increased to include 33,800,000 vehicles. I just received notification from Honda that my 2008 Pilot has been recalled. IMO the recall is much larger however they are staging the recall in sections so that they have time to complete the retofit. At close to 100,000,000 cars per annum WW, why is my 2008 model being recalled just now? Honda should have known this defect long before now.
It seems the dumb decision by a bean counter at Takata is responsible for this fiasco. To save some costs, they decided to use Ammonium Nitrate, yes *that* Ammonium Nitrate, in the triggering mechanism when a safer and more stable chemical is available. I hope Tesla did not get their air bags from Takata. Read this article. IT is very informative and has a scary video of what happens when these ait bags blow up and how negligent they have been. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/takatas-switch-to-cheaper-airbag-propellant-is-at-center-of-crisis.html?_r=0
Tesla uses a lot of Mercedes parts, and Mercedes does not use Takata airbags. So I'm guessing it's not affected.
No Mercedes have been recalled: Consumer Advisory: Vehicle Owners with Defective Airbags Urged to Take Immediate Action | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Takata is the 4th largest airbag manufacturer and supplies 20% of the airbags for autos world wide. Most are Japanese, primarily Honda and Toyota/Lexus. I believe all the deaths have been in Hondas. Like Toyota, they did not cooperate with the NHTSA investigation and were fined 14,000$ a day. Unlike Toyota, no criminal charges yet..
There is a list of years and makes being recalled. All but one car was made before 2011. http://www.safercar.gov/rs/takata/takatalist.html I doubt Tesla will be included, all Model Ss were built after the time period.
Nope. The Roadster used Bosch airbags (it was a big deal because they only had single stage airbags and sold under an exemption). - - - Updated - - - Musk specifically said that they planned to use Mercedes airbags when they made the financing deal. SOURCE