A new Cybertruck owner’s dreams were shattered in a matter of minutes when the vehicle he’d waited years to buy crashed into his neighbor’s house.
Disappointed customers shared their experiences on social media, claiming that the rear wheels of their Tesla trucks locked up just four hours into the vehicle, a known issue that led the company to recall thousands of trucks in April.
Surveillance camera footage shows the agitated driver slowly pulling out of the driveway of a home, but the 6,800-pound truck rapidly picks up speed as it heads down a hill.
He heard the car speeding and trying to make a turn towards his neighbour’s house, but in a vain attempt, the car crashed into the back steps of the house and the neighbour’s car.
The Cybertruck plummeted about 800 feet, leaving a 50-foot skid mark in its wake, the driver said.
The driver walked away unharmed, but the new truck sustained extensive damage, with photos showing a cracked windshield, crushed bonnet and damaged bumper.
“It was nice getting to know you,” the driver said of the story, repping as Cobra No. 1. I said it with XHe added that the repairs would cost $30,000, but it would take a year for the parts to arrive — a devastating price to pay after waiting five years for a $109,000 car.
The driver diagnosed the cause as a locked rear brake and said he had tried in vain to steer the heavy vehicle away from a neighbour’s house.
Tesla already recalled 4,000 Cybertrucks in April due to a fault with the accelerator pedal that could detach and become stuck in the interior trim above the pedal.
This issue prevents the driver from properly using both the accelerator and brake pedals, increasing the risk of a crash.
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To make matters worse, the driver did not know how to use the emergency brake.
According to the Tesla website:Emergency braking is an automatic feature in cars that is accessed via the touchscreen rather than a physical steering wheel.
According to reports, the high-tech automaker told drivers that “when you press the brake, the accelerator may or may not release.”
In response to the exorbitant costs of repairing a car that was only four hours old, they simply said, “Negotiate with your insurance company.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
The incident is the latest in a series of problems for the futuristic-looking truck.
Elon Musk’s company recalled 11,000 electric pickup trucks on Tuesday to fix two separate issues with faulty windshield wipers and truck bed trim.
Last month, a controversial video was released showing excessive lag in the Cybertruck’s steer-by-wire system, sparking new safety concerns about the stainless steel electric pickup truck.
