Newly manufactured Tesla Cybertrucks are parked in front of the company’s Giga Texas factory on December 13, 2023, in Austin, Texas.
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
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Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
Newly manufactured Tesla Cybertrucks are parked in front of the company’s Giga Texas factory on December 13, 2023, in Austin, Texas.
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
Tesla is recalling the new Cybertruck to repair a faulty pedal assembly that could block the accelerator pedals in the depressed position, increasing the risk of an accident.
Concretely, when someone presses the accelerator, the pad can come loose and get stuck in a bit of trim.
This would leave the accelerator stuck in the “on” position, which has happened at least twice. When a driver steps on the brake pedal, the truck stops even if the accelerator is pressed. No injuries or accidents were reported.
The problem, as Tesla reported to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, was in the soap production lines.
“An unapproved change introduced lubricant (soap) to facilitate assembly of components,” the report states.
Obviously the workers used soap to help get the pad in place on the pedal. Traces of this slippery soap remained, hence the problem.
The recall affects all 3,878 aesthetically controversial angular trucks that have been sold so far. Although some of Tesla’s recalls involve software fixes that can be released over the air, meaning a vehicle downloads an update without going to a mechanic, this one is a physical defect. This requires physical repair.
This is the second soap-making process to make headlines this month. A Boeing supplier recently defended the use of Dawn dish soap as a lubricant in door seal assembly in the manufacturing of planes like the one that lost a door mid-flight.
Meanwhile, the Tesla Cybertruck, a vehicle with an extremely unusual manufacturing process, has also been the subject of complaints since its launch regarding issues with rust and trunks potentially being pinched by fingers.
Tesla, the company that disrupted the auto industry by profitably manufacturing mass-market electric vehicles, has warned investors that it is “in between” periods of growth. After poor sales last quarter and the layoff of more than 10% of global staff, executives will speak with investors on a regular quarterly earnings conference call next week.
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