Tesla recalled all Cybertrucks Friday after federal safety regulators contacted the company over malfunctions with the vehicle’s accelerator pedal. New Cybertruck orders have been reportedly cancelled or stalled. The news follows numerous reports of embarrassing Cybertruck failures.
The recall represents a major blow to Tesla, which has weathered a difficult year, seeing poor earnings reports in recent quarters as competing Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers encroach on the electric vehicle market.
“This is another black eye for Tesla, which has added to the chaos going on for Musk,” said Dan Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities. “Cybertruck is the pedestal moment and a recall out of the gates is a bad look.”
Cybertruck owners reported that their vehicles were at risk of getting stuck driving at full speed due to a loose accelerator pedal. Video showed the pedal itself falling off and the piece beneath wedging itself into the car’s interior, which would force the vehicle into maximum acceleration. One driver was able to save himself from a crash by holding down the brake pedal. As of Monday, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had contacted Tesla regarding the issue, and the company announced the recall Friday. Tesla first became aware of this issue on 31 March, according to the filing. After assessing the problem, Tesla on 12 April decided to issue a voluntary recall of the Cybertrucks, the filing says.
The Cybertruck, which has long been a pet project for Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, began deliveries in late 2023 after years of delay due to production problems and battery-supply constraints. Since then, numerous failures in the vehicle’s design and function have ranged from embarrassing to outright dangerous.
The trucks – which Musk once claimed would be the “best off-road vehicle” – have been shown getting stuck in sand, snow and dirt, with one towed away by a Ford truck. Some owners have reported their new Cybertrucks have simply stopped running completely. Many have complained the truck’s stainless steel exterior rusts easily, and one owner said the windshield broke quickly in a hail storm. Musk himself claimed the car was bulletproof at its unveiling before cracking its window with a steel ball thrown by hand.