All eyes remain on the Tesla Cybertruck. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the silvery wedge since finally making its long-overdue debut on the market, with glitches including videos depicting difficulty in dealing with snow, corrosion worries despite its stainless-steel skin, and sidewall-eating wheel covers marring its positive press.
The latest Cyber-bug, however, could be a showstopper – and literally a sales-stopper, as Tesla has allegedly halted deliveries of the pickup as customer complaints about scary stuck-throttle incidents have begun to appear.
News of halted deliveries hit the Cybertruck Owners Forum this past weekend. Reservation holders have reported being told their deliveries had been canceled due to an “unexpected delay.” Affected customers weren’t directly notified as to the reason for the cancellations.
At this time, it’s widely believed that an accelerator-pedal issue is behind Tesla’s decision to temporarily halt deliveries. Supporting this is a TikTok video from Cybertruck owner @el.chepito1985. He describes what happened when his truck’s accelerator pedal came apart in a way that prevented the pedal from lifting and disengaging the throttle. Thankfully the driver’s quick reactions allowed him to avoid a crash.
@el.chepito1985 serious problem with my Cybertruck and potential all Cybertrucks #tesla #cyberbeast #cybertruck #stopsale #recall
The cause of the issue appears to be the accelerator pedal’s cover. As seen in the video, the metal-trimmed plastic cover separated from the plastic pedal underneath. The cover slid up the pedal and caught in the edge of the lower dash panel, jamming the accelerator pedal in its maximum-throttle position. The driver was able to stop the Cybetruck by hitting the brake, which overrode the signal from the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was safely brought to a stop and put in park, at which point the issue became obvious.
It’s a simple problem, but one that could absolutely explain why Tesla has stopped delivering Cybertrucks. In the video, we can see the cover appears to merely clip onto the actual pedal. There’s no obvious adhesives or other fasteners helping to hold it in place.
As we’ve seen in previous cases of unintended acceleration, all it takes is a poorly designed floor mat or piece of trim to jam the throttle wide open. In such a situation, a driver can easily lose control of the vehicle. Outcomes are typically worse if the driver panics due to sudden acceleration. Thus, rectifying the issue before more trucks ship out to customers makes perfect sense. Failure to do so could lead to dangerous crashes, injuries, or worse.
This could be an easy fix for Tesla. The company could arrange for manual rework of existing trucks by riveting or gluing the accelerator pedal covers in place if they are, indeed, not already glued or riveted together. A good epoxy would do the job well, though Tesla may elect to install a fastener for additional peace of mind.
At this stage, we can’t be 100% certain that the accelerator pedal cover is the root cause behind the delivery halt or even if deliveries are halted. In part, this is because Tesla does not provide a press contact to advise us on these issues. The Autopian has contacted the NHTSA for comment on whether a stop-sale order is in place, and we will update this story as more information becomes available.
Since we’re talking about it, this is also a great time to educate yourself on what to do in a stuck-throttle situation. It’s good to remember that modern vehicles have powerful brakes which are often capable of stopping the vehicle even under such conditions. Some modern drive-by-wire vehicles will also cancel the throttle command when the brake is applied. You can also shift into neutral to disconnect the engine from the transmission in an ICE-powered vehicle. In vehicles with a pushbutton starter, holding the engine start button down will kill the engine or cut drive power. In a key-start vehicle, you can use the key to turn the engine off, but you may lose power steering and power braking, and you may lock the steering wheel if you’re not careful.
Fundamentally, though, the video above is a bad look for Tesla. A vehicle’s basic controls should be stout and properly manufactured. It’s poor form to see pedals falling apart on a brand-new vehicle. Here’s hoping the problem can be sorted quickly and no injuries or crashes result from this flaw.
Image credits: Tesla, el.chepito1985 via TikTok screenshot
If Tesla enters a downward spiral into being absorbed or sold off, wasting its limited resources on this vanity project will be a main driver.
On a somewhat related note. All this bad Tesla news has spawned a Reddit campaign among pro-Tesla moderators to preemptively ban anyone who’ve made any anti-Tesla/anti-Musk comments in the past. I’d imagine this latest Cybertruck news will keep them busy for a while.
I agree. Between Musk’s racist and antisemitic rantings and the folly of this thing, he may be sinking his company.
The factory pedal covers on my 2013 Kia Soul are nice, heavy stainless steel with rubber traction nubs that clip securely to the pedal. In 11 years they’ve never once tried to kill me. The bar isn’t high here, Elon.
Snark: someone gave the CT the nickname ‘putzpanzer’ and idk, it’s deeply funny to me.
I’ve been digging “Incel Camino”
On a DFMEA (Design Failure Mode Effect Analysis) this is a severity 10, so you have to ensure a very low occurrence and detection scores. There should be a DFMEA for every assembly on every car, and arguably every single component.
Given the mating faces are injection moulded it’d be very easy to design in a self clipping feature sturdy enough to take people kicking it for a decade.
Adhesive is a worse option as you’re relying on your assembly process to ensure it’s applied and it’s hard to check it’s there.
A visible fastener would do, but then you’d have to get the crayon enthusiast in charge of the interior to sign off on it.
Holes on the main body of the pedal would be a way to check that the adhesive was applied.
You’re right! A little snap-in tab of some sort would be trivial.
I know too many former Tesla employees to want to work there, but they can have my idea for free just so long as they also mould something fun into the parts they change.
Looking to understand what my reaction should be in this situation. Can someone help?
Do we:
1, Publicly crucify Tesla on a dangerous accelerator pedal, call in into question all vehicles ever sold, and have a massive media campaign questioning all kinds of theories, and demonstrations by “Experts” to replicate issues which did not exist – as demonstrated by the “Toyota issues” caused by owners doubling-up on floormats?
Or
2, We sweep this under the rug like most Tesla snafus and chalk it up to a charmingly quirky CEO trying to upturn the industry and having growing pains and don’t investigate further?
As we know, with Tesla, there is no middle ground here.
Neither. Tesla paused deliveries over the issue and thus, must be taking it seriously and investigating a fix.
And for all we know, it might be the fault of a 3rd party supplier Tesla is using.
Hahahahaha
It’s Tesla’s responsibility to vet their parts suppliers.
Full self-driving accelerator pedal.
Everyone (even the rich) complains about the rich, but “thought leaders” like Musk make it obvious why they’re so blatantly greedy.
If the blatant-ass scam artist failson next door manages to attract the devotion, mindspace and money of so many more idiots, why would I give up a dime to benefit the follower idiots? After a while you realize some people want to be used, so why bother performatively giving them a cut if you can keep your boat and caviar? It gets easier to generalize anyone else you don’t see under that level from there: ‘if the educated ones are this dumb, the other ones are stupider…’
Like watching people give their last dollar while on WIC to a megachurch preacher so he can ride around in a Bentley.
And is the spaceman that hurt your feelings in the courtroom right now?
Elon, don’t you have more pressing matters to attend to?
Dude, is that really what you took from my little diatribe? That I don’t like Elon in specific? I’m mad because he’s got a vision, in comparison to anything else in industry atm, and that we’re so starved for actual risk-taking and innovation that he looks good. In a better world he’d be an artifact, a throwback already.
The pedals are falling off this rose.
Banger comment.
Ever have a project car get stuck because all the fun stuff is done and no one wants to tackle the boring details? We’ve at least all seen a car that’s been near completion but waiting for brake lines and taillight wiring for 5 years. This seems to be the Tesla approach to engineering. Everybody wants to work on the fun drivetrain and styling stuff but no one wants to put even a moment’s thought or effort into engineering the accelerator pedal.
I think you are on to something. I recall DT’s anecdote about when he started at Chrysler and was so excited to work on the Wrangler – but many of his peers didn’t seem to care – or at least weren’t super jazzed to work on the new hotness. To them, the pedal assembly is just another problem so solve. Based on what I have heard about how Musk runs his companies – those types of engineers wouldn’t be a great fit.
I doubt it is anything more than money.
Time to engineer and test stuff takes money.
Once the basics are there they likely just don’t commit the time to testing or better design because it costs them more than they are willing to pay.
The person can probably sell the broken pedal, and make a few cents . Tesla-stans are everywhere.
“. . . by hitting the brake, which overrode the signal from the accelerator pedal.”
Are you telling me you can’t brake-torque an EV? Don’t tell the young Youtubers who insist on doing it in all their videos.
“Let’s just eliminate the glue holding the thing together.
That will save us a nickel per truck”
—Billionaire Narcissist CEO
Or bean-counter at any automaker (as history has sadly shown time and time again).
Folks blame bean counters – but they only do cost-analysis and make recommendations.
Someone senior has to sign off on those shenanigans.
And when it’s happened, it usually been when a bean-counter has been running the company rather than an engineer.
Oddly enough, Iacocca signed off on the Pinto.
He was definitely not a bean counter.
[shows pic of their Cybertruck] “Serious problem with my Cybertruck.”
First serious problem is that it’s a hideous, abomination, meme vehicle with mortgage pricing.
“Here’s my super-expensive toy parked outside my crappy condo”.
Tesla’s response:
“This is user error. Tesla is not responsible. See our legal disclaimer.”
Easy fix. Just get the replacement pedal that looks like a foot from JC Whitney.
Sometimes the obvious answer, really is obvious.
Imagine paying 6 figures for something with worse build quality than an off-brand riding lawnmower.
My Tono and Jon Deene riding mowers both have better build quality than this.
I 3d printed a better pedal cover than this for my 40 year old John Deere.
Elon, I’m available to consult for a very reasonable fee. 😉
This is seriou shit.
A couple decades back, I saw a white wagon go past my store on a little rural highway at 80+ mph. Lady’s accelerator pedal got stuck and she panicked. She didn’t make the curve a 1/2 mile past my store, and she and the 5 kids with her did not survive. I had my throttle cable fray & stick wide open in an S10 Tahoe and can therefore understand the panic.
PSA: Teach your kids to put it in neutral: doesn’t matter if they blow the engine as long as they survive!
The Cybertruck accelerator can’t overpower the brakes (according to the TikTok video this was sourced from), so they just have to hold the brake pedal down until the battery runs out, no big deal…I think it shifts into park or neutral. Still this pedestrian slicer goes 0-60 in like 3-4 seconds…that isn’t a lot of time to understand what is happening and react accordingly.
Yeah, in this case, the drive-by-wire is a positive. I’m speaking in general, as it’ll be years before we all will be going around in BEVs.
This is exactly what I’m teaching my daughter that is learning to drive. I tell her that most modern engines have a rev limiter and the engine can bounce off that until she get stopped with low chance that it will do serious harm.
Add to this PSA…..Don’t switch off the ignition until you’ve come to a stop. This is to prevent the steering lock from engaging.
Exactly why I didn’t teach my daughter to cut it off. I tried it myself in a large lot, and I could turn it off without engaging the lock, but, in an emergency situation, I figured it would be best not to have her try that.
That wreck affected me a lot: I knew all the people involved—including the Rescue Squad people who had to clean up the mess. The couple whose yard the car mostly landed in sold the house later that year. It really affected the whole community.
Been there. Pre-internet days. But, for some reason I can’t recall, my youthful self had already thought through this exact scenario.
I put it in neutral, pulled over, then turned the ignition off.
Or simply slam on the brake pedal. C&D did a story years back and found that even high power Mustangs cannot overpower their brakes.
Once the car stops we would have plenty of time to figure out what’s next to do.
This was an Aries wagon, so front wheels driven. Did C&D try it with fwd?
Also have to take into account that the vast majority of people never bother to change their brake fluid. With moisture in the system, it doesn’t take much to boil it. I’ve experienced severe fading twice myself through inattention
Time for a trip to the Home Depot.
Hopefully someone can do a run before they are laid off.
So you’re telling me that a meme vehicle that was made to appease a narcissistic, megalomaniacal billionaire’s ego and provide teh lolz is having some issues? Who could’ve seen this coming?
Please show us on the doll where the spaceman touched you.
Thank you for pointing yourself out. We left the j site cause of people like you. Infantile trolling is not appropriate.
These were designed to be future collectibles; you’re not supposed to actually daily drive them.
Once you take it out of the blister pack, you may as well enjoy it.
People should know that driving the Cybertruck voids its warranty. It’s on page 92 of the user manual.
Attempting to stop one with an accelerator malfunction might cause something else to void, too.
Related note: shitting your pants WILL void the warranty on said pants.
It’d have to be on page 69.
When is the software update released? /s
Inexcusably bad engineering, like most of this sham vehicle.
The funny thing is, most of the reviews and people that have actually driven it praise the engineering. All the complaints come down to placating to a fucking maniac of a CEO, which directed much of the engineering.
Shit like this happens all the time in car manufacturing. Remember Toyota floor mats that would mess up the pedal?
I remember – it was people adding an extra floor mat over their existing floor mat that caused the problem, if I recall correctly.
Yes. Old people apparently love layering floor mats in their Avalons.
Mustn’t scuff the Skechers Slipons…
Hey don’t you knock the Massage Fit soles, OK?
https://www.skechers.com/technologies/comfort-technologies/massage-fit/
Funny you should mention that just bought a 20 yr old Lexus from a 90 yr old guy and it had factory carpeted mats + another layer of aftermarket rubber mats. First time sighting for me. WTF?
They love em. Can’t get enough of the floor mats, those olds.
It was Toyota’s own all-weather floor mats combined with the design of the gas pedal. This wasn’t a case of Joe Public getting some over-sized generic gas station floor mats.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-criminal-charge-against-toyota-motor-corporation-and-deferred
Isn’t GM making and marketing WOW (Wide open Watts)? Looks like Tesla found the break things and make it cheaper hack for WOW. Now it’s time for GMs lawyers to respond
WTF watts to freedom
The pedal covering looks way too much like the cheap ones at Autozone…
Oh, wait — those have some sort of clips that hold around the back of the pedal.
Exactly. Lets not disparage the fine folks at Autozone.
Wait a minute. So Tesla is using plastic to mimic aluminum/stainless steel pedals? Talk about cost cutting.
I had the same thought but I’m also curious if anybody else is doing this. Just seems so dumb. And lazy. Maybe somebody can help with the logic of doing this.
AFAIK Pretty much every automaker makes their pedal covers out of colored/metallic plastic. Given it’s something that looks premium but 95%+ of buyers will never touch with anything but their feet, it’s far far cheaper to make them plastic.
That said I’m nearly certain every single other automaker has a design that does not slide off when using the throttle the way its designed to be used, which in this case is completely inexcusable and really terrible cost cutting.
My Chrysler 300C and my Charger Scat Pack both had stainless look covers. They use tight fitting rubber to hold it in place on the brake pedal and clips on the gas pedal.
Definitely common on the industry, but at the Cyber truck price point seems cheesy.
Wouldn’t it make sense for a car made mostly of stainless steel to idk… make the pedals stainless stell as well? It’s not like it would increase cost given how much bulk material theyre buying
I’d be surprised if they didn’t have enough offcuts to make pedal covers.
I’m even more surprised they relied off a single plastic clip to hold the pedal in. Not using fasteners is something I can understand because that makes things more complicated, but using a single plastic clip? There are so many better alternatives the interiors team could’ve chosen.
As the late, great, Johnny Carson used to say… “I did not know that”.
Pretty standard. Not the part where it slides off and keeps the gas pedal pegged.
Most covers are plastic, some have a thin stainless skin glued to the plastic to make it look pretty.
However one would think that with the amount of bulk material Tesla is buying, the cost of the vehicle wouldn’t affected that much if they had also made the pedal out of stainless steel. They could simply incorporate an extra die when they stamp the blanks for bodyside outer stampings for a pedal, and have a conveyor belt that moves it off to GA.