The Biggest Surprise Of The Tesla Cybertruck Recall Isn't The Stuck Pedal
On April 19, it was announced that 3,878 Tesla Cybertrucks were to be recalled due to a faulty accelerator pedal. Specifically, the pad on the pedal could cause the pedal to get stuck. That's obviously not ideal. Car recalls are definitely news worthy, but unfortunately not exactly that surprising — especially for brand new EVs, and doubly so for Tesla, which has had some headline grabbing recalls in the past.
However, the most interesting bit of information about the Cybertruck recall isn't the recall itself, or the stuck accelerator pedal. It's the Cybertruck production numbers: It's relatively high, given the truck's long and troubled path from concept to production. Seeing a preproduction model was akin to seeing Bigfoot, only more people believed Bigfoot actually existed.
The Cybertruck has famously been delayed for years until it finally rolled off the line in November of last year, complete with claims that it's bulletproof.
Comparatively still a drop in the bucket
Fast forward to earlier this year, and Cybertrucks were showing up on auction sites demanding huge sums of cash for a truck that seemed hyper-exclusive at the time. As the auction failed to meet reserve, the initial response was thinking that Tesla and Cybertruck fans overshot the demand for the Cybertruck. Now, however, it seems that a lot of the people who wanted one has gotten their hands on one already, or is waiting for delivery (of course, before the recall). To make matters a little more intriguing, Tesla's website still lists a delivery date of 2025 for every Cybertruck, regardless of version.
3,878 Cybertrucks seems like a lot in the specific context of the Cybertruck's saga. That number is a drop in the bucket to other Teslas like the Model 3 and Model Y, which were delivered to 369,783 customers over the first quarter of 2024. Another high-end EV truck brand, Rivian, announced that it delivered 50,122 vehicles last year. Over 3,800 Cybertrucks actually leaving may seem like a small miracle to some, but it's small potatoes compared to the rest of the EV world, and stuck accelerator pedals will only drive the Cybertruck to longer delays.