Nikola Corporation has to recall 2022 Nikola Tre electric semi trucks because the seat belt shoulder anchorage assembly may have been improperly installed.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a total of 93 vehicles, produced between November 5, 2021 and June 30, 2022, have been affected.
All of the affected vehicles are expected to contain the safety defect. The trucks will have to visit dealers and get a replacement of the seat belt anchor assembly and adjuster, free of charge.
According to the NHTSA's description of the chronology, the issue has been discovered by a Nikola employee, doing a pre-delivery inspection, on July 18. In August-September, Iveco (the cab manufacturer) 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".
After an 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".
There are no reports about any warranty claims or customer claims due to this issue, but at least we know how many Nikola Tre BEVs were produced.
Let's recall that the first all-electric Nikola Tre BEVs have been delivered to customers in April. Close to 100 units is not a bad result. We believe that BYD has delivered several hundred electric trucks of various types in North America so far.
Nikola Corporation produces its electric vehicles in Coolidge, Arizona and, as we can see, there are dozens of vehicles parked at the site, visited by Bear's Workshop on September 19:
Nikola Tre 6x2 specs:
- up to 350 miles (563 km) of range in an undisclosed test cycle
- 753 kWh battery capacity
- top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h)
gradeability of 36 mph (58 km/h) at 6% - system output of 480 kW (645 hp)
- DC fast charging: 10-80% SOC in 120 minutes at up to 240 kW
(CCS1 or CCS2 standard) - GCWR: 82,000 lbs. (37,195 kg)
- vehicle weight: undisclosed
