Last week, Tesla recalled 3,878 Cybertrucks after social media videos showed the truck’s accelerator pedal could become lodged in a full-throttle position under the interior trim. Now the company has an exceedingly simple fix for the faulty pedal.
A Tesla service bulletin with photos and a video posted online by Cybertruck owners shows the company’s fix: a rivet installed on the bottom end of the pedal pad that prevents it from sliding off.
In a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) safety recall report, Tesla blamed the faulty accelerator pedal on an “unapproved change [that] introduced lubricant (soap) to aid in the component assembly of the pad onto the accelerator pedal.” The residual lubricant “reduced the retention of the pad to the pedal.” In other words, the pedal pad was slipperier than it should have been, resulting in the terrifying zero-to-60 experience one Tesla owner encountered last week.
Videos show a Tesla worker using a drilling jig from the company’s “pedal rework kit” to install the rivet in 35 seconds. So simple, why didn’t they think of it in the first place?
Between the Cybertruck’s announcement and recall, the model has been plagued by production delays and other serious design problems.