The gargantuan, polygon-shaped Tesla (TSLA) Cybertruck is a vehicle envisioned by CEO Elon Musk as being the toughest vehicle on the road, but it facing its biggest roadblock yet.
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As per an announcement on April 19 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla is recalling all units of the Cybertruck due to a defect that can render the accelerator pedal immobile when pressed all the way down.
The shiny plastic trim that covers the accelerator can become dislodged from the pedal and pin itself into a seam in the footwell, causing it to remain pressed and increase the risk of a collision.
Videos on social media exposed the defect. One such post by TikTok user @el.chepito1985 went viral, with the video posted on April 15 garnering more than 4.5 million views. In the video, he explained that the pedal trim dislodged while he was driving his Cybertruck, a situation he described as "pretty dangerous" for "someone that panics."
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"[The trim] wedged itself right there, and as you can see, based on the design of the floorboard, [the trim] sliding up and still hooked onto the pedal — it held the accelerator down 100% at full throttle."
"I was lucky enough. I had a clear mind, didn't panic. Holding the brake down overrides the [accelerator] pedal, so I was able to stop the car. But, anytime I lift up the brake, it would start accelerating again."
In its defect report, NHTSA officials confirmed this phenomena, noting that "the application of the brake pedal will cut drive torque, including when both brake and accelerator pedals are pressed, and continued application of the brake pedal will bring the vehicle to a stop as quickly as if the accelerator pedal was not depressed."
The recall affects the entire production run of the Tesla Cybertruck — all 3,878 vehicles produced from November 13 to April 4. According to the timeline of events in the NHTSA's report, Tesla was first made aware of the issue on March 31st, which was quickly followed by a second report on April 3rd.
The automaker then reviewed customer images and data to find the cause before making the decision to issue a recall on April 12. So far, Tesla says it isn’t aware of any “collisions, injuries, or deaths” attributed to the pedal fault.
The report also stated that Tesla discovered that an "unapproved change" to production involving soap was the main culprit for the potentially deadly problem. Soap was used to lubricate the part of the accelerator pedal where the trim was applied, but excess soap left on the pedal made the adhesive less sticky.
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The accelerator pedal trim is the latest in a saga of issues pertaining to quality control for the Cybertruck. Some of those problems include rusty surfaces, wheel covers that eat into tire sidewalls, a potentially dangerous headlight design, or a whole host of other critical issues taking place shortly after delivery.
Tesla says that it is notifying its stores and service centers of the issue “on or around” April 19th. To fix affected Cybertrucks, Tesla technicians will replace or rework the accelerator pedal assembly free of charge.
Additionally, Cybertrucks awaiting delivery will have this defect fixed before delivery to its owners, and trucks coming off the line after April 17 will be equipped with a new part with a new part number.
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