Tesla Just Recalled Every Cybertruck Due to a Serious Safety Issue

Stacey Ritzen
·2 min read

Tesla has issued a recall for every Cybertruck sold to date over a major design flaw that can cause the accelerator pedal to become stuck, which could result in a serious accident.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a total of 3,878 vehicles were potentially affected. The federal agency stated that "the accelerator pedal pad may dislodge and cause the pedal to become trapped by the interior trim."

TechCrunch reports that Tesla was first notified of the accelerator pedal issue by a customer on March 31, and then a second incident on April 3. The company finally decided on April 12 to issue a recall after performing a series of tests, but it wasn't reported by the NHTSA until April 17.

"An unapproved change introduced lubricant (soap) to aid in the component assembly of the pad onto the accelerator pedal," the NHTSA wrote in the recall document. "Residual lubricant reduced the retention of the pad to the pedal."

You can see just how potentially terrifying the issue is in a TikTok video recorded by one customer who experienced it firsthand. Although he noted that he was able to override the accelerator pedal by pressing the brake, as soon as he let off the brake the vehicle accelerated again. Thankfully, he was able to keep a clear head in heat of the moment, but quite understandably, not everyone might react so calmly.

"Somebody that panics? That could be pretty dangerous. Crazy," he said in the video.

Just days before the April 17 recall, some customers reported that Tesla was delaying its Cybertruck deliveries. In a forum post on Monday, one customer said that the company had sent them a text, informing them that deliveries were not being scheduled at the time as there was currently a hold on the vehicle for replacing the accelerator pedal. Another customer heard of the delay just one day before they were scheduled to pick up their Cybertruck in Kansas City, three hours away.

The safety design flaw is just the latest in Tesla's woes. On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the company laid off more than 10 percent of its workforce in its largest round of job cutes to date, including two of its top executives.

Tesla said that it would be sending owners notification letters of the recall, expected to be mailed in June, but in the meantime anyone with an affected vehicle can contact customer service and have the pedal repaired or replaced free of charge.