NHTSA recall 18V031000
A recall listed here may apply to a vehicle of this year, make and model. Only the manufacturer can say whether it applies to one vehicle: check the VIN with the official lookups.
| Published by | NHTSA (United States) |
|---|---|
| Campaign number | 18V031000 |
| Manufacturer's number | SB-18-20-001 |
| Manufacturer | Tesla, Inc. |
| Reported | 2018-01-09 |
| Owners notified | 2018-02-28 |
| Component | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE |
| Units potentially affected | 17846 |
| Report | Quarterly report 6, for 2019 quarter 2 |
|---|---|
| Filed with NHTSA | 2019-07-29 |
| Vehicles in the campaign | 17846 |
| Reported remedied | 16032 (89%) |
| Reported unreachable | 85 |
| Reported removed | 0 |
These are the manufacturer's totals for the whole campaign at the end of 2019 quarter 2, as filed with NHTSA. They do not say whether one vehicle has been remedied: check the VIN with the official lookups. The reports are from data as of 2026-10-19.
What is wrong
Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling all 2013 Model S vehicles equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
What can happen
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Tesla will notify owners, and Tesla Service Centers will replace the passenger frontal air bag modules, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in March 2018. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-18-20-001.
Notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
| 2013 TESLA MODEL S | Built 2013-01-01 to 2013-12-31. |
|---|
A vehicle with no link is not in this site's catalog, which covers cars, multipurpose vehicles and trucks by model year. The campaign is from data as of 2026-10-19.
Investigated as EA15001
This recall followed 1 NHTSA investigation. An investigation is NHTSA looking into a possible defect. It is not a finding that a defect exists, and it does not say that any one vehicle is affected.
| EA15001 | Engineering analysis, opened 2015-02-24. Air Bag Inflator Rupture. AIR BAGS:FRONTAL; AIR BAGS. |
|---|
From NHTSA's investigation file, as of 2026-10-19. The JSON has NHTSA's summary of each.