Tesla Recalls 131,726 Model 3 Premium Cars in Europe Over Far-Side Airbag Fixed by a Software Update

Tesla is recalling 131,726 left-hand-drive Model 3 Premium sedans built at Giga Shanghai for the European Union, the Middle East and South Korea, because the far-side airbag is not calibrated to meet the UN R135 side-impact rule. The far-side airbag is the front centre airbag between driver and passenger, and in the UN R135 pole test a pole strikes the driver door at 32 km/h while the dummy shoulder must not take more than 3.0 kilonewtons of lateral force. Recall documents say some cars exceeded that limit because of the airbag deployment calibration.

The good news for owners is the remedy: a free over-the-air software update, with no dealer visit required, and owners can keep driving in the meantime. The EU Safety Gate alert, notified by Germany and published on October 16, says the car may provide insufficient protection in a side impact, which increases the risk of injury to occupants, and lists the recall measure as in force from September 30, 2026. Neither the alert nor the reporting outlet Auto Plus reports any related crashes or injuries.

The scale is what makes this recall notable rather than the fix itself. More than 130,000 cars is a large share of the Model 3 Premium population in the affected markets, and it shows how much of modern recall work is now software calibration rather than hardware replacement. Owners should still install the update promptly: an airbag that deploys a fraction too hard in a pole strike is exactly the kind of marginal failure that only matters in the crash it is meant to protect against.