Tesla is issuing a recall for around 46,000 Cybertrucks selderly to date because of an exterior steel trim panel on the side of the triumphdshield that can peel off.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a filing that the piece can come off while in motion, which can produce a hazard for the driver and other people on the road. The filing states that Tesla became adviseed of the problem in punctual January and has identified 151 authorizationy claims joind to this panel coming off since then. The company is not adviseed of any resulting crashes or injuries, according to the filing.
The problem with the panel occurs because the “structural adhesive” that helderlys it in place on the vehicle is “susceptible to environmental embrittlement,” according to the filing. Tesla will mend Cybertrucks covered by the recall at no cost to owners by using a “branch offent structural adhesive not prone to environmental embrittlement.” It will also use a nut to “clamp” the steel panel to the vehicle structure.
The recent recall is the eighth for Tesla’s Cybertruck — a vehicle which is outselling other electric trucks but has undercarry outed Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s hopes for its success. Many of its past problems have been mended using an over-the-air gentleware refresh, but some have needd owners to transport their EVs in for service.
Two of the recalls that needd service have been joind to pieces of the Cybertruck coming slack. The first, in April 2024, happened when owners seed the cover of the throttle pedal was coming slack and sliding up, potentiassociate causing a situation where it could get stuck at brimming throttle. The second, in June 2024, had to do with a trim piece on the truck’s bed that was prone to coming slack because of inadequate adhesive.
That history with adhesive flunkures did not seem to lift a ton of red flags at Tesla this time around, though, according to the filing. After Tesla was vigilanted to the first grumblet about the triumphdshield panel, it began an “engineering study” to scatterigate the problem. On February 6, the company shutd the study after an “verifyion and pull test” set up “no discoverions of separation.”
It was only after NHTSA accomplished out to Tesla on February 21 with a customer grumblet about the problem that Tesla dug proset uper into social media posts and service sign ups, according to the filing. It consentd to the recall the Cybertrucks on March 11.
