Electric vehicle giant Tesla recently contacted some Cybertruck owners to offer free drive unit replacements as part of its new study to improve the stainless steel pickup’s efficiency and reliability.
Tesla offers free drive unit replacement to select Cybertruck owners
Kyle Conner (@itskyleconner) of automotive content creator Out of Spec Studios shared the significant development on social media platform X.
“Hmm @Tesla wants one of my drive units in my Cybertruck!
Won’t say no to swap to a new one ⚡️.”
Kyle Conner of Out of Spec Studios
Conner indicated a screenshot of his dialogue with Tesla Service on his X post. You can see in the photo attached below, the Tesla service account is offering Conner and “5 others” to “replace one of your current drive units with the latest production pedigree, which is intended to improve efficiency and reliability.”
Presented below is the full screenshot of the conversation:
Tesla’s free drive unit replacement offer also generated some buzz on the Cybertruck Owner’s Club forum throughout the week. Several Cybertruck owners claim they had received similar messages from Tesla service.
One of the online community members shared that he owns an AWD dual-motor Cybertruck, while Conner’s Cybertruck is in the tri-motor Cyberbeast configuration.
“Mine is AWD dual motor they did not say which motor. I’m VIN 1011 and was a January build truck.”
sgmorton, Cybertruck Owner’s Club forum member
Nonetheless, Tesla offers the upgrades free of charge for both cases.
Tesla’s ongoing study on early Cybertruck drive units
Other members of the forum shared they experienced slight vibration in their Cybertruck’s drivetrain. Tesla replaced the flawed drive units in early June. However, whether the cases are related to the sudden study initiative or not remains unclear.
“The vibration is gone and it also has a lot more regen. Also feels like it has significantly less acceleration before it was undoubtedly faster than my long range model 3 now it feels slower.”
Truck Genio, one of Cybertruck’s owners who reported slight vibration in their drivetrain
In hindsight, Tesla initiated voluntary safety recalls in late June. These recalls include an incorrectly adhered trunk bed trim and a windshield wiper motor issue.
Tesla is still completing the deliveries of its early launch unit, dubbed “Foundation Series” Cybertrucks while ramping up production at Giga Texas.
Tesla consistently refines the Cybertruck through physical fixes and over-the-air software updates. In June, the hurricane EV giant outlined plans to upgrade the electric pickup’s charging technology to make it more efficient.
While Tesla says the Cybertruck drive unit replacements aim for better efficiency and reliability, the exact details of these improvements are still unclear. It also seems like only a small number of trucks have been part of the replacement program so far.