WASHINGTON — Electric truck maker Nikola is recalling all 93 of the tractors it has manufactured after a worker found an issue with the seat belt shoulder anchorage assembly earlier this year.
The issue affects certain 2022 Tre BEV (battery-electric vehicle) trucks; the company says the seatbelts could be improperly installed.
According to the National Highway Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) recall notice, “the assembly as designed and installed could become detached when a load is placed upon it during use. The design of the seat belt anchor assembly does not allow full thread engagement for the anchor bolt and may cause cross threading.”
The NHTSA notice states that the problem was first discovered by a Nikola employee on July 18. The employee was conducting a pre-delivery inspection and found that the shoulder anchorage on the passenger side seat belt disconnected from the B-pillar adjuster.
The issue was reported to Nikola’s partner company Iveco, which informed Nikola that the final torque on the passenger seat belt shoulder anchorage was not installed to specification, is susceptible to cross threading and that the condition may exist on other trucks.
Nikola’s Vehicle Defects Committee (VDC) met to discuss and launch a field investigation to verify torque. The VDC met again to review test results and determine the potential for failure, and an investigation was launched.
During the investigation, it was determined that the original design of the seat belt shoulder anchorage could be improved by reducing the size of a spacer between the bolt and the adjuster.
On Sept. 7 the committee decided to issue a recall and replace the bolt, spacer and adjuster on all seat belts.
Nikola says it is not aware of any warranty claims or customer claims due to this issue
The recall comes on the heels of a major announcement by Nikola and Iveco about a partnership to build the European Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and the European Nikola Tre fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) beta version.
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