News
Tesla Cybertruck accelerator pedal issue listed as NHTSA recall for unintended acceleration
The Tesla Cybertruck’s acceleration pedal issue, which caused a temporary halt in the customer deliveries of the all-electric pickup truck, has been listed as a recall by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As per the NHTSA’s official website, the recall was initiated to address risks for unintended acceleration from a trapped accelerator pedal on affected vehicles.
The NHTSA’s Safety Recall Report revealed that a total of 3,878 units of the 2024 Tesla Cybertruck are affected by the accelerator pedal issue. Affected vehicles were produced from November 13, 2023 to April 4, 2024. Similar to observations from Tesla Cybertruck owners, the NHTSA Safety Recall Report noted that the accelerator pedal might get dislodged and trapped in the interior trim when high force is applied to the pad.
The Tesla Cybertruck’s accelerator pedal issue is described as follows in the NHTSA Safety Recall Report:
“If the pad on the accelerator pedal becomes trapped in the interior trim above the pedal, the performance and operation of the pedal will be affected, which may increase the risk of a collision. Note that application of the brake pedal will cut drive torque, including when both brake and accelerator pedals are pressed, and continued application of the brake pedal will bring the vehicle to a stop as quickly as if the accelerator pedal was not pressed,” the report read.
Aș per the NHTSA’s report, the cause of the Cybertruck’s accelerator pedal issue was an unapproved change that introduced a lubricant, soap, to aid in the component assembly of the pad onto the accelerator pedal. Residual lubricant ended up reducing the retention of the pad to the pedal.
The Safety Recall Report’s chronology section showed Tesla’s quick response to the issue. As per the document, Tesla was initially made aware of the accelerator pedal issue on March 31, 2024, through a customer claim. On April 2, Tesla Engineering reviewed the vehicle’s data logs, which confirmed that the driver did press the brakes and accelerator at the same time to bring the affected Cybertruck to a stop.
Another customer claim was received by Tesla on April 3, and through the week of April 8, Tesla Engineering conducted additional tests to determine the scope and behavior of the issue. A decision to recall the affected Cybertrucks was made on April 12, 2024. No crashes or accidents are believed to have been caused by the issue as of April 15, 2024.
There were no injuries or accidents because of this. We are just being very cautious.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2024
Unlike most Tesla recalls, the Cybertruck’s accelerator pedal issue is hardware related. Thus, it would not be fixed through an over-the-air software update. To address the issue, Tesla will be replacing the faulty accelerator pedal assembly in affected Cybertrucks with a setup that meets specifications. All Cybertrucks produced from April 17, 2024 are already equipped with a new accelerator pedal component, and units that are at delivery centers or in transit will receive the remedy prior to their customer handovers.
Recent posts on social media and Elon Musk’s comments have suggested that Cybertruck deliveries have resumed. As per Musk, the temporary halt in Cybertruck deliveries was also done over an abundance of caution. “There were no injuries or accidents because of this. We are just being very cautious,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
The NHTSA’s Safety Recall Report on the Cybertruck’s accelerator pedal issue can be viewed below.
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Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
