By Michael Elkins
The National Highway Traffic and Safety Association (NHTSA) announced Tuesday that the U.S. regulator has opened a probe into 50,000 Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model X vehicles after receiving two complaints reporting front seat belt failures.
The preliminary evaluation covers 2022-2023 model year vehicles over reports of failures of the front seat belt to remain connected to the seat belt anchor pretensioner while driving.
Both vehicles had insufficiently connected anchor linkages and neither incident involved vehicle collision, the agency said.
NHTSA also is investigating complaints about problems with Tesla vehicles that date to 2020. The probes include Teslas with partially automated driving systems that can brake for no reason or can run into emergency vehicles parked on highways.
There also are investigations into complaints that some steering wheels can suddenly disconnect and that suspension parts can fail.
Shares of TSLA are up 0.48% in premarket trading on Tuesday.