The company issued a voluntary recall of 2,431 Cybertrucks meant to rectify a flaw in the drive inverter. The NHTSA filings occurred on November 13, 2024. Tesla has faced its sixth recall for the Cybertruck, which debuted over one year ago. This recall comes as a line of problems with the vehicle, in this case car, to its latest replacement of the drive inverter. The drive inverter is part and parcel of any electric vehicle as it provides energy to the cars’ wheels. As soon as the inverter fails, the car would lose its propulsion system, thereby raising chances for a collision.
The recall came after another issue with the vehicle’s rearview cameras, which the company had already addressed via over-the-air software. Starting at approximately $80,000 in the US, the Tesla Cybertruck garnered instant attention with its weirdly shaped form and has since become the third best-selling electric car in the country, after Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3. And it has already been recalled more times in the same year, again showing the concerning quality control within the company.
Furthermore, it is currently under probe by NHTSA due to possible safety defects in some of its vehicles, based on issues regarding glare and fog issues as they pertain to specific cases involving its Full Self-Driving system. It is, therefore, a new added issue in the much larger scrutiny that Tesla faces regarding its safety standards as it enters the innovation part in the electric vehicle market.
Tesla did not immediately return requests for further comment. Despite such controversies, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, publicly continued to issue proclamations of opposition toward federal regulatory oversight, especially NHTSA, and the standards on vehicle safety that it imposes. Musk’s political connections, particularly his endorsement of incoming President Donald Trump, further positioned Tesla at the forefront of discussions about the future of federal regulations for the automobile industry.