Tesla's $100,000 Cybertruck needs a hole drilled through the accelerator pedal for safety

Ana AltchekApr 23, 2024, 02:58 IST

Business Insider

Tesla's solution to a gas pedal problem involves securing the pad with a rivet. Robyn Beck/Getty

Tesla has a solution to the Cybertruck gas pedal issue that caused a recall.
A user on X posted a 35-second video drilling a hole into the gas pedal to fix the issue.

Tesla has a solution to the gas pedal problem that caused the company to hit the brakes on Cybertruck deliveries.

According to Tesla's recall bulletin, when a high amount of force is applied to the gas pedal, the pad may slip off and get trapped in the interior rim above the pedal.

This weekend at a Cybertruck event in California called "Cybertakeover," which was hosted by the Tesla Owners Club of Santa Clarita Valley, a user posted a video of the pedal problem being fixed on X, formerly Twitter. The "35 second recall fix," shows a worker drilling a hole into the gas pedal and securing the pad with a rivet.

The user said the fix takes 35 seconds, although the video starts with the drill in place, which is over halfway through the list of steps. Tesla's recall bulletin lists 15 steps guiding owners on the installation process, with the actual drilling being the eighth step on the list.Tesla technicians use the pedal rework kit to perform the drilling, and some of the steps require exact measurements of the parts. If the bottom of the pad is 5 millimeters or more from the bottom of the pedal, technicians have to replace the pedal.Tesla recalled about 3,878 of the vehicles manufactured from November 13, 2023 until April 2024, according to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Cybertrucks cost upwards of $100,000.The report said the issue occurred because of an "unapproved change" to the vehicle's production. Residual soap that was added to its assembly "reduced the retention of the pad to the pedal," according to the report.

The NHTSA report said Tesla first received notice of customer claims of the issue on March 31 and April 3. Tesla engineers began to review the issue on April 2 and by April 12, Tesla wrapped up its assessment and decided to voluntarily recall impacted vehicles, according to the report.

By April 17, the vehicles in production were equipped with a new accelerator pedal component, the report said. Cybertruck vehicles at delivery centers and in transit to delivery centers will receive the new component prior to being delivered to customers, the report said.As of April 15, Tesla did not know of any injuries related to the issue, the NHTSA report said.Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Tesla's $100,000 Cybertruck needs a hole drilled through the accelerator pedal for safety