Tesla, the electric car company owned by Elon Musk, has recalled thousands of its new Cybertrucks over safety concerns.
It is because their accelerator pedals currently risk getting trapped by the interior trim, increasing the possibility of crashes.
The BBC recently spoke to a whistleblower at the company who had raised concerns over the safety of pedals of previous Tesla models.
Tesla has been contacted for comment.
The recall affects 3,878 Cybertrucks, which cost roughly $61,000 (£48,320), made between November 2023 and April 2024.
“A trapped accelerator pedal can cause the vehicle to accelerate unintentionally, increasing the risk of a crash,” the US Department of Transportation wrote in a notification of the recall.
Having computer logic to decide if you are allowed to open your door is how you get people drowning in their cars or getting heat stroke because they started a firmware update.
That said, this is very much the kind of problem that can be solved… basically the same way cabinets solve it. A few springs to increase the resistance so that you can’t slam the door open. But that probably has issues with needing to close a door REALLY fast for Reasons.
Personally? I don’t really care. Cars are going to get dings and those trucknuts are too weak to do any real damage. But the audacity I have seen from some drivers who slam their door open while on the phone and take ten minutes to put four bags in the passenger foot area. All while the driver of the car they just damaged is standing there and staring at them.
I guess those are all fair points, but maybe the thing that holds it could be easily overpowered even with the computer 100% trying to stop you.
That might not be enough for a strong wind, but accidental openings maybe?
Vehicles that aren’t vans should have sliding doors.