Tesla Recalls Thousands of Cybertrucks Over Scary Accelerator Fault
The pedal can get “trapped” on the truck’s interior trim, causing the vehicle to “accelerate unintentionally.”
Liu Ranyang/China News Service via Getty
Tesla is recalling thousands of its Cybertrucks over a problem with the accelerator pedal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Friday.
The auto safety regulator said the pedals in some Cybertruck vehicles have a pad that “may dislodge and become trapped by the interior trim,” causing the truck to “accelerate unintentionally, increasing the risk of a crash.” A total of 3,878 Cybertrucks are being recalled to fix the issue.
Part of a safety recall report said the fault on Cybertrucks manufactured between November 2023 and April 2024 said the accelerator pad can become dislodged when “high force” is applied to the pedal. If the pad then becomes trapped in the interior trim, “the performance and operation of the pedal will be affected, which may increase the risk of a collision.”
An “unapproved change” in the production of the pedal—namely the use of a “lubricant” in its assembly—was blamed as the cause of the fault, with the lubricant reducing how well the pad stuck to the pedal. The report also notes that the vehicle can be brought to a stop if drivers press the brake pedal, which will override the accelerator.
“There were no injuries or accidents because of this,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post earlier this week. “We are just being very cautious.” The NHTSA said Tesla will repair the fault at no charge to owners.
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The recall comes after videos purporting to show an issue with Cybertruck accelerators went viral on social media. It also follows a Monday announcement from Musk that the electric automaker will lay off over 10 percent of its global workforce following a sharp fall in sales in the first quarter of 2024. The company’s stock has plummeted almost 40 percent so far this year.
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