The plastic accelerator pedal snapped off of a Tesla Model X while in operation.
A Tesla owner tried to put the pedal to the metal, but it turns out that the accelerator is actually made of plastic. He found that out the hard way when it snapped off while he was driving.
Bryan Yaninek was returning to his home in Colorado Springs in the early hours of the morning, and stopped at a light about five miles from his house. When the light turned green, he stepped on it.
The car accelerated quickly, but then suddenly lost power. Luckily he was on a lightly traveled road at 2 a.m. with barely any other cars around, and he safely coasted to the shoulder. Stopped along the side of the road, he again pressed the pedal to see if the car would accelerate. That's when he noticed something off. When he looked down, he realized the pedal was on the floor.
This isn't a case of a lead foot breaking the car.
"I stepped on it, but didn't stomp," he explains. Although his 2017 Model X P100D is equipped with Launch Mode, he doesn't use it that often, and it wasn't engaged at the time. But Yaninek shouldn't have to defend his driving style. After all, the Performance edition of the Model X is designed for sporty acceleration. He didn't even think it was possible to break the accelerator.
However, it's not the first time a Tesla's pedal snapped off mid-drive.
In 2017, A Model S owner in Texas reported the same issue on the Tesla Motor Club forum along with a photo of the broken plastic accelerator rod. Although most people had never heard of this flaw, it wasn't an isolated incident.
A few comments down on the thread, a different owner posted photos he found on a Tesla Facebook group that show a driver holding in his hand the broken off pedal of his Model S. All three instances show the accelerator had snapped at the same point on the plastic rod.
It's not clear how many Tesla owners experienced this same problem since the automotive manufacturer repairs the vehicles they produce in service centers that they own. Although there are two other known instances, there could be more.
"The representative said that the company was aware of the issue," says Yaninek in an interview with FORBES, adding that it was the first time the person he was speaking with on the phone had encountered the defect.
He also reached out to Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter to report the broken accelerator.
Plastic accelerator rods are not uncommon—even in luxury vehicles. Road and Track reported that the Tesla Model S uses the same drive-by-wire accelerator assembly as 2010-2012 Ford Fusion. Yaninek says he believes it's also shared with the Model X.
As a safety precaution, Yaninek filed a complaint with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, as did the Tesla owner who posted on the TMC forum. However, no record of the incident was found. The person who posted photos of the broken pedal on the Facebook group could not be identified, but it's likely he lives in England.
The Tesla Service Center will be sending a tow truck to retrieve the inoperable vehicle for repair, and like most Tesla owners, Yaninek had nothing but good things to say about his interaction with the company. Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
