Tesla Recalls Nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks After Using Soap as Lubricant

During assembly of the vehicles at Tesla's Austin, Texas, factory, workers improperly added a soap that makes the accelerator pedal prone to sticking.

A Tesla Cybertruck on display in San Jose, Calif., in November 2023Photo byShutterstock

Tesla is recalling the majority of its Cybertrucks — just 6 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 on the pad of the accelerator pedal makes it prone to sticking, increasing the chance of a collision, the NHTSA said.

“On affected vehicles, when high force is applied to the pad on the accelerator pedal, the pad may dislodge, which may cause the pedal to become trapped in the interior trim above the pedal,” the report said.

Now, Tesla must recall nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks to fix the problem. No accidents or injuries have been connected to the issue so far, the company said.

Photo byShutterstock

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.

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.