Less than five months after delivering the first Cybertrucks to customers, Tesla has had to recall the electric pickups to fix an accelerator issue. On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that the recall affects Cybertruck vehicles built from November 13, 2023, to April 4, 2024. This means almost all of the 3,878 Cybertrucks produced so far are being recalled.
According to the NHTSA, the pedal pad can dislodge and get trapped by the interior trim, which might cause the accelerator to stick and make the vehicle speed up unintentionally, increasing the risk of an accident.
Owners of the affected Cybertrucks can visit their nearest dealer for the repair. The process involves drilling a hole and installing a rivet to secure the pedal cover. A video on social media shows an engineer performing the fix by placing a drilling jig over the pedal to ensure the rivet is positioned correctly.
It’s uncertain if this fix will be included in the Cybertruck’s future manufacturing process or if Tesla will come up with a different design for upcoming models.
Before the recall was announced, the safety issue received a lot of media attention. A Cybertruck owner posted a video on TikTok showing his accelerator pedal cover slipping forward and getting stuck under part of the interior, causing the pedal to jam and the vehicle to accelerate. The driver managed to override the accelerator by braking, but the vehicle sped up again each time he took his foot off the brake. Eventually, he was able to free the pedal and stop safely.
The NHTSA explained that the problem stemmed from an unapproved change where lubricant (soap) was used to help assemble the pad onto the accelerator pedal, reducing the pad’s retention due to residual lubricant.