Tesla is recalling the majority of its Cybertrucks — just six months after releasing them in the U.S. A significant number of the company’s futuristic vehicles will need a fix from Tesla mechanics to prevent a problem with the accelerator pedal that increases the risk of collision.
Workers at the company’s Austin, Texas, factory used soap as a lubricant while assembling that part of the vehicle, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wrote in the recall report.
Soapy residue made the accelerator pedal prone to sticking, increasing the chance of a collision, the NHTSA said. As a result, Tesla must recall 3,878 Cybertrucks to fix the problem.
So far, no accidents or injuries have been connected to the issue.
The recall pertains to all 2024 Model Year Cybertrucks produced between November 13, 2023, and April 4, 2024. That’s roughly the time period of Tesla’s initial rollout of the vehicle. Tesla hasn’t disclosed the total number of Cybertrucks manufactured to date, but it’s likely the company is being forced to recall the majority of them currently on US roads, CNN reported.
Since the recall involves a hardware issue, it’s not possible for Tesla to simply solve it remotely with an “over-the-air” software update, as it did with the 2 million Tesla cars recalled in December. This time, Tesla will need Cybertruck owners to bring the vehicles into service centers for a free repair.
The news comes at the same time that Tesla founder Elon Musk announced plans to lay off 10% of the company’s global workforce. Musk also apologized soon after for sending laid-off employees severance packages that were “incorrectly low.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
