Mar 20, 2025 12:12 PM
Tesla says it will fix the sticky issue—which could cause panels to detach from trucks while driving—with a new adhesive “not prone to environmental embrittlement.”
Photograph: David Paul Morris/Getty Images
Tesla said Thursday it would recall nearly all the Cybertrucks it has produced to repair a stainless steel trim panel that the carmaker said could become detached from the vehicle while driving. It’s the eighth recall for the distinctive all-electric pickup, which hit US roads just over two years ago.
Unlike many other Tesla-related recalls, though, this one cannot be fixed with an over-the-air software update, and must be brought into a service center for repairs. The recall affects more than 46,000 Cybertrucks manufactured between November 2023 and late February 2025.
The recall is related to a cosmetic applique on the vehicle’s exterior, which is attached to the rest of the truck by a kind of glue, according to a filing published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US’ road safety regulator. On affected Cybertrucks, the adhesive can separate from the rest of the truck, creating a possible “road hazard” for others and increasing the risk of a crash.
Complaints about the trim first bubbled up in social media posts; Tesla reportedly halted Cybertruck production last week. Tesla says in the filing that it began to investigate the issue in early January. The filing says Tesla will repair the issue with another kind of adhesive “not prone to environmental embrittlement.”
Dale Harrow, chair and director of the Intelligent Mobility Design Center at the Royal College of Art London, labels this latest glue recall for the Cybertruck as “surprising”.
“Glues are used a lot more than people think in car body construction these days,” he says. “Rather than having a mechanical fixing, weld or a screw or a bolt, it’s very effective gluing panels together for a lighter construction. It’s become very popular. Jaguar, Lexus, Audi, they’ll use glues at some point. So I’m very surprised. It’s not as if it’s an unknown science. I’ve not heard [of problems] anywhere else.”
There are numerous glues the auto industry uses to bond panels and parts together, Harrow says, adding that different adhesives are used depending on strength of bond needed, particular circumstances, and materials involved. However, what is different with the Cybertruck to other vehicles is its highly unconventional use of stainless steel for its panels.
“Stainless steel is the big difference,” Harrow says. “So maybe there’s been an issue there?” Harrow points out this fault appears to be happening in cold weather, and that it might be that the stainless steel is conducting cold better, possibly just enough to make a difference in the curing process.
“I could surmise that something on the production line is not quite bonding at the right temperature or getting the right UV coverage? And that could be due to the stainless steel having a different density from standard steel. It’s not a small company, and it’s not doing things on the cheap. So I’ll be very surprised if there wasn’t the knowledge within the company to [fix] this. But it would need quite a bit of investigation, I think, to find out the real cause of it.”
Vehicle recalls have become more common as cars have grown increasingly sophisticated and reliant on electronic components that can be adjusted—but also malfunction—via software. Annual US recalls grew by nearly 70 percent between 2003 and 2023, according to NHTSA, affecting 83 percent more vehicles. The number of recall-related vehicle repairs completed through over-the-air updates grew ten-fold between 2019 and 2023.
But five of the Cybertruck’s recalls have required Tesla drivers to bring their vehicles into the shop. The most sweeping have included recalls related to failed front windshield wiper motor controllers and malfunctioning pedal pads, which Tesla said were treated with an unapproved soap during assembly that allowed them to become trapped, leading to “unintended acceleration.”
Even before the Cybertruck began to roll off production lines, the truck was subject to snafus and delays. Its glitzy 2019 unveiling event may be most memorable for an incident in which a prototype’s supposedly unbreakable glass failed to stand up to a metal ball thrown at its driver window. Amidst the pandemic, Tesla pushed Cybertruck production from 2021 to late 2022 and finally to late 2023. Meanwhile, its base price jumped from $40,000 to $61,000.
Leaked internal documents later obtained by the German newspaper Handelsblatt and WIRED showed that, by January 2022, Tesla was still struggling internally with a preproduction “alpha” version of the vehicle, which had basic issues with suspension, body sealing, noise levels, handling, and braking.
The Cybertruck’s rocky start does not seem to have bothered the White House. Last week, the electric truck sat among other Tesla models parked on a presidential driveway as President Donald Trump promoted adviser and DOGE head Elon Musk’s automaker. “Everything’s computer!” Trump exclaimed, as the White House Press Corps looked on. Perhaps sensing the oncoming glue snafu, or perhaps merely not liking the possibility of rust damage, thankfully President Trump shunned purchasing a Cybertruck, stating that instead he would write a check for Tesla’s Model S Plaid, which notably is not made from stainless steel.
