It’s said that Elon Musk’s electric car-making company has had to suspend sales of its famous electric pickup truck after customers raised the alarm over some rather concerning issues.
Now, owners have reportedly said metal panels have come away from the cars and in some cases have flown off at high speeds while they were driving, presenting a safety risk to drivers and other people on the roads.
Customers have since taken to the Cybertruck Owners Club site and Musk’s social media platform, Twitter, to complain that they hadn’t been told their deliveries were on hold.
The Tesla Cybertruck has had many issues (Tristar Media/Getty Images)
But electric vehicle enthusiasts at Electrek said Tesla decided to put a halt on sales after several incidents of metal trim and panels ‘flying off’.
According to The Telegraph, a major issue is said to be with the pickup’s cantrail, a piece of decorative trim that spans the length of the roof.
It seems the issue also isn’t new as Tesla has previously been forced to recall thousands of the models due to panels falling off while on the road.
The news comes as owners have long reported build issues with the battery electric truck since it came out in 2023.
Musk unveiled it as a concept vehicle in November 2019, calling the futuristic and whopping 6,800lb truck the ultimate ‘pickup truck that can carry a pickup truck’.
An owner reported issues just one month into owning the vehicle on TiktTok (TikTok/proloaf)
But it has divided the opinion of many ever since it came out, with some complaining of its ‘poor design’ and expensive charges.
Since being able to get their hands on one, Cybertruck owners have also faced issues with them, particularly people who live in snowy and cold climates.
For example, one Tesla driver reported a ‘major flaw’ in the EVs design when he discovered that his headlights weren’t visible because of snow building up in front of them.
Another owner in Montreal, Canada, also showed the vehicle struggled to move in the snow.
In an official complaint to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a Cybertruck owner claimed the trim came away after just one year of use.
The driver claims the panel was ‘hard and sharp enough to hit other cars’ and presented a ‘serious safety issue’.
Another complaint said the upper passenger trim ‘fell off while driving on [the] street’ and ‘could have hurt another motorist’.
“This trim comes in two pieces, one is bolted to the truck and the other is glued onto the bolted piece, the glued piece peeled off,” it added.
Last year, Tesla recalled a few vehicles after a piece of metal trim was falling off around the trunk which the company explained in a statement, writing: “The Cybertruck is equipped with a cosmetic applique along the exterior of the trunk bed trim, known as the sail applique, which is affixed to the vehicle with adhesive.
“On affected vehicles, the sail applique or adhesion may not have been installed according to specification, which may cause the sail applique to become loose or separate from the vehicle.”
