Tesla launched its sixth recall this year for the new Cybertruck.
In a filing dated September 5, Tesla began its latest voluntary recall for faulty drive inverters that could lead to certain 2024 Cybertruck vehicles losing propulsion. Specifically, the automaker says as many as 2,431 trucks built between November 6, 2023 and July 30, 2024 could have inverters that will stop producing torque with no warning to the driver.
Tesla told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that these vehicles were “equipped with metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (or MOSFETs) in the drive inverter.” Those vehicles were in the part number family 1802305, containing MOSFET part number 1430063-2A-B.
“No warning occurs prior to the loss of propulsion,” according to a report filed with the NHTSA. “However, when the driver loses the ability to apply torque, they will immediately receive a visual alert on the user interface, with an instruction to safely pull over the vehicle to the side of the road.” Depending on when the Cybertruck loses drive torque, though, there may be increased risk of a crash due to the drive inverter fault. However, no accidents, injuries or fatalities related to the problem have been reported, at time of writing.
Tesla began investigating the problem on August 5, when it received a customer complaint of a sudden loss of propulsion on a 2024 Cybertruck that occurred on July 31. Over the next two months, the company says it “identified an increased rate of failure” for a specific set of drive inverters equipped with MOSFET components. As of October 30, Tesla acknowledged five warranty claims related to the problem.
What’s the fix?
Unlike some of Tesla’s other recent recalls, owners won’t be able to solve this issue through a software update. Tesla says that, on or shortly after December 9, 2024, it will begin replacing recalled drive inverters free of charge. The new inverters will be equipped with a properly functioning MOSFET component. The covered trucks are all still under warranty, so Tesla will not reimburse owners for out-of-pocket repairs (as they shouldn’t have incurred any).
Tesla service centers were notified of the problem on November 7, and it will mail letters to owners on January 4, 2025.
The company further told the NHTSA that the problem only impacts trucks built through July 30, 2024. Models built on or after July 30, on the other hand, have the updated inverter from the factory. As such, newer Cybertruck models are not involved in this recall campaign.
Overall, this recall impacts only a fraction of Cybertrucks that have made it out to customers at this point. However, this is an important one for impacted owners to address, since it does concern a loss-of-power condition. Tesla’s number for this recall campaign is SB-24-40-009, while the NHTSA has more information about it as well under recall number 24V-832. Owners can call Tesla’s customer service line at (877) 798-3752 for more information.