Tesla’s Cybertruck put a man’s life at risk, he alleges. Now, Tesla truck deliveries are being put on pause to address the issue.
In the viral video, which Reddit users claim Tesla doesn’t want you to see, a man shared a critical life-threatening design flaw that could have caused him to crash his truck after only six days of owning it.
It was his quick thinking (not any safety feature on the car) that saved his life, he says. He told NBC News that he was on a drag strip, so while a crash was possible, he wasn’t in a situation where there were cars, buildings, or trees in front of him.
In the TikTok, which has more than 2.2 million views, Jose Martinez (@el.chepito1985) shared that a few days ago, he was driving his Tesla truck when he suddenly went from a normal speed to “100% full throttle.”
Many people would panic in this situation, with a car whose speed they could no longer control, but luckily, that’s not how Martinez reacted. “Override the pedal,” Martinez thought to himself as he held down the brake to control the car.
But every time he lifted his foot off the brake, the car would accelerate at a dangerous speed.
Still holding down the brake, Martinez managed to put the car in park and get out. At first, he assumed the pedal was broken or defective, but as he examined the area around the driver’s seat, he figured it out.
See, the pedal on Tesla’s truck is made up of two parts. One is the internal metal component that connects to the car’s mechanics, the other is what looks like a plastic cover that latches onto the metal bit.
Well, that plastic part isn’t as secure as it should be. Martinez realized that as he was driving, the plastic part slid up and up and up. Because of the floorboard’s design, the plastic bit eventually got wedged in the floorboard, not allowing the gas pedal to release.
“Somebody that panics, that could be pretty dangerous, crazy,” Martinez said.
People had mixed feelings about Martinez’s situation. With some claiming he just wanted to sue Tesla and others saying he never should have bought the car in the first place.
“Every Cybertruck owner is like. I paid 80k for this and it almost killed my entire family. Small issue. Love the car!!” a commenter wrote.
“The clear mind should’ve happened before deciding to purchase a Cyber truck,” a person said.
In a follow-up video, Martinez addressed the claim that what happened to him was “highly unlikely” and that he was just looking to get a quick and hefty check from Tesla.
Martinez showed that it’s actually very possible for another person to run into the same issue because only two flimsy clips are designed to hold the pedal in place.
“I could see it in in first video, simple problem they could have prevented using actual screws and it wouldn’t have been a thing. Great explanation man,” a commenter responded.
While the electric vehicle giant has not announced an official recall, over the weekend, dozens of customers reported that their expected deliveries were canceled because of “an unexpected delay regarding the preparation of your vehicle.”
@el.chepito1985 serious problem with my Cybertruck and potential all Cybertrucks #tesla #cyberbeast #cybertruck #stopsale #recall ♬ original sound – el.chepito
While Martinez is still able to drive the car without the accelerator cover and is still quite fond of the truck, he recognizes that the issue needs to be addressed so that other people don’t have the same problem.
“Because it is such a massive car, and it’s got such a great amount of power, I do feel like things in regard to safety definitely need to be a priority in getting it addressed and fixed,” Martinez told NBC.
In addition to Tesla being aware of the issue, the car police, aka the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told CNBC that they’re aware of it and in contact with Tesla.
All of this comes amid layoff announcements at Tesla.
The Daily Dot reached out to Martinez via TikTok comment and to Tesla via email.